Documentary Classics

The following list is a highly selective sampling of classic early and contemporary documentary works. For more recent works, consult OskiCat under the title of the work or the name of film maker or producer.

Documentary capturing fin-de-siècle Paris, featuring selections from archival film by the Lumière brothers. Shows the World's Fair, the Opera Comique, Rodin's Gates of Hell, and the work of the Impressionists and Picasso. DVD X491; Video/C 7912

Crazy Cinématographe: europäisches Jahrmarktkino 1896-1916

Features 50 short films with piano scores from early fairground and traveling cinemas which contributed to the rapid establishment of the cinematograph as a popular medium. "European Cinema of Attractions, 1896-1916" shows, in a varied sequence, rarities from the treasures of European film archives ranging from Danish anarchisit slapstick to Scottish X-ray films and a Belgium film showing a hunt. "Local films from the Greater Region, 1902-1914" presents a forgotten genre which was, in its day, was a real crowd puller ... traveling cinema. Contents: Europäisches Kino der Attraktionen 1896-1916 = European Cinema of Attractions, 1896-1916 / Musikbegleitungen von Günter A. Buchwald -- Lokalfilme aus der Großregion 1902-1914 = Local films from the Greater Region, 1902-1914 / Musikbegleitungen von John Sweeney. DVD X767

Edison: The Invention of the Movies.

Commericial motion pictures were invented at the Edison Laboratory between 1888 and 1893. Perhaps none of the component parts were strictly new, but the ability of Edison and his staff to reorganize them for a specific purpose was an extraordinary cultural achievement. In 1894, Edison was the sole producer of motion pictures in the world. This first disc of a four disc set contains films produced between 1889-1903. DVD 3552

Disc 2. European rest cure; How a French nobleman got a wife through the New York Herald personal columns; Strenuous life or, Anti-race suicide; Ex-convict; Klepto-maniac; Seven ages; Whole dam family and the dam dog; Coney Island at night; Little train robbery; White caps; Miller's daughter; Train wreckers; Life of an American policeman; Police chasing scorching auto; Dream of a rarebit fiend; Three American beauties; San Francisco earthquake; Terrible kids; Kathleen Mavourneen; Getting evidence; "Teddy" bears.

Disc 3. Cohen's fire sale; Rivals; Trainer's daughter or, A race for love; College chums; Laughing gas; Little girl who did not believe in Santa Claus; Suburbanite's ingenious alarm; Rescued from an eagle's nest; Fireside reminiscences; Cupid's pranks; Tale the Autumn leaves told (fragment); House of cards; New York of today; How Bumptious papered the parlor; Thirty days at hard labor; Passer-by; Totville eye; Public and private care of infants; Unsullied shield.

Disc 4. At Bear Track Gulch; The Ambassador's daughter; A serenade by proxy; All on account of a transfer; One touch of nature; The adventure of the hasty elopement; The wonders of magnetism; Black eyes; The lone game; The unbeliever.

The First Film Archive (Det forste filmarkiv)

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Det Danske Filmmuseum (now: Danish film Institute) presents seventy silent documentary films. Shows Danish events and people of the period 1899-1919 as well as visitors to Denmark such as Theodore Roosevelt and polar explorer Frederick Albert Cook. Original producers/donors of the films were Royal Court photographer Peter Elfelt, Ole Olsen's Nordisk Films Kompagni and the daily paper Politiken.
225 min. DVD X773

Lyrical Nitrate

A selection of silent film fragments, constructed from old black & white and color tinted and toned nitrate films. Reconstructed in an evocative, poetic manner the film features a soundtrack from old recordings, ranging from Caruso to the sounds of a glass harmonica. 50 min. DVD 4523

Moscow Clad in Snow(1909)

Pathe Frères. 5 min. Supplement included on DVD 7620

Paris in the Time of Zola.

Zola, the greatest of the French naturalist writers, gave us detailed and convincing portraits of Paris and Parisian life in his time. This program uses rare film footage from Zola's lifetime to document the Paris of the Second Empire that Zola knew. Dist.: Films Media Group. 26 min. DVD 6114

Paris 1900.

A chronicle of Parisian life from 1900 to 1914, using newsreels, early silent film, and other memorabilia. Sports, recreation, and the arts are emphasized. The end of those halcyon days is suggested by newsreels showing the rise of labor unions, socialism, and new technology. Video/C 1978

Unseen Cinema 5: Early American Avant-garde Film, 1894-1941: Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled.

Reviews the life and career of James Agee, one of the most talented American writers of our time. In his short career, Agee worked as poet, journalist, film critic, screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. His story is told here by those who knew him best, including John Huston, Walker Evans, Robert Fitzgerald, Dwight Macdonald, Father Flye, and Agee's three wives. The film also features the words of James Agee. 198? 58 min. Video/C 2327

In the Street (1941-1952)

An extension of the filmmakers' work on the documentary film The Quiet One which was concerned with the urban environment. this film is a revelation of random behavior filmed in a neighborhood in East Harlem New York during the 1940s. The images are selected to reveal the city street as "theater and battleground." 16 min. Video/C 4427

Produced by John Grierson, directed by Edgar Anstey. Housing Problems is a documentary interview with people living in the slums of London. 108 min. DVD X1229; also vhs Video/C 9417; Video/C 999:524

Crothall, Geoffrey. "Images of regeneration: film propaganda and the British slum clearance campaign, 1933-1938." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, August 1999 v19 i3 p339(2) UC users only

Crothall, Geoffrey. "Images of regeneration: film propaganda and the British slum clearance campaign, 1933-1938." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, August 1999 v19 i3 p339(2) UC users only

Les raquetteurs / Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx (1958, 15 min.) [also on Video/C 4663] -- La lutte / Michel Brault, Marcel Carriere, Claude Fournier, Claude Jutra (1961, 28 min.) -- Quebec-U.S.A. ou l'invasion pacifique / Michel Brault, Claude Jutra (1962, 28 min.) -- Pour la suite du monde / Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault (1963, 105 min.).
Les raquetteurs: A candid view of participants and spectators at a rally of snowshoers held in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
La lutte: Views of some of Montreal's back-street wrestling parlors where well-muscled tyros are drilled, and then to the Montreal Forum for a view of a Carpentier-DeNucci versus Costello-Kalmikoff tag-team match. Shows the grappling, punching, squirming acrobatics of the ring, and the intense involvement of the crowd.
Quebec-U.S.A. ou l'invasion pacifique: With an eye to humour, this film shows the people of Quebec taking a look at American tourists who have come to Quebec to take a look at them
Pour la suite du monde: The story of the revival of a traditional whale hunt on the Ile-aux-Coudres in the St. Lawrence River. The aging participants attempt to reconstruct the tactics of their forefathers. 164 min. DVD 5869 (Les Raquetteurs is also on vhs 4663; Pour la suite du monde also on DVD 8774)

Michel Brault, Works 1958-1974. Disc 2

Les enfants du silence (1962, 24 min.) -- Le temps perdu (1964, 27 min.) -- Genevieve (1965, 28 min.) -- Entre la mer et l'eau douce (1965, 85 min.).
Les enfants du silence: A film about children suffering from deafness, and the importance of early detection.
Le temps perdu: A glimpse into the private world of young people. Informal discussion shows that they are involved in the frivolity of youth, but are also concerned with the adult world of religion, sex and interpersonal relationships.
Genevieve: Describes the elation and disillusionment of first love as experienced by two girls who are infatuated with the same boy at a Quebec winter carnival.
Entre la mer et l'eau douce: Claude is a young man who leaves his small town on the North Shore for the big city, Montreal. He meets Genevieve, a young waitress, and they fall in love. Claude enters a singing contest that launches his music career. As he becomes more famous, he must work out how Genevieve will fit into his new life. 164 min. DVD 5869

Michel Brault, Works 1958-1974. Disc 3

Les enfants de Neant (1968, 44 min.) -- Eloge du chiac (1969, 27 min.) -- L'Acadie l'Acadie?!? / Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault (1971, 118 min.).
Les enfants de Neant: Morbihan is one of the poorest regions in Brittany. Joseph, a 33-year-old farmer, can no longer live off the land. He is hired at the fancy new plant that has just opened where he enters a world of rote work. Fortunately he can go home to his farm every evening, far from the large urban centers where workers must usually live.
Eloge du chiac: Taking the form of a conversation between a young teacher at a French school in Moncton and her students, the film shows how hard it is for francophones to preserve their language in a society where English is everywhere, and has been for centuries.
L'Acadie l'Acadie?!?: A filmed account, day by day, of the uprising of Acadian students in 1968/69 at the University of Moncton, in search of the right to speak French at the University and in Moncton. 189 min. DVD 5869

Michel Brault, Works 1958-1974. Disc 4

Le bras de levier et la riviere (1973, 26 min.) -- Les ordres (1974, 107 min.).
Le bras de levier et la riviere: A group of vacationing teenagers decides to find out how the principle of the lever arm is applied in several everyday life situations.
Les Ordres: Historical drama based on true incidents which occurred in Quebec during the October Crisis of 1970. Tells the story of over 450 people, who, under the War Measures Act, were taken into custody and jailed without warrants and for no apparent reason. 133 min. DVD 5869

Michel Brault, Works 1958-1974. Disc 5

Le cheval de Troie de l'esthetique / Gilles Noel (2005, 105 min.) -- Le direct avant la lettre / Denys Desjardins (2005, 50 min.).
Le cheval de Troie de l'esthetique: Michel Brault reflects on his career, his work with Claude Jutra, Jean Rouch, Pierre Perrault, Roland Barthes, and the beginning of French production at the National Film Board.
Le direct avant la lettre: With commentary by Roger Blais, Jean-Claude Labrecque, Fernand Dansereau, Jacques Giraldeau, Michel Brault and others, this film explores the beginning of cinema verite, and traces the history of a movement which had a profound impact on filmmaking in Quebec. 155 min. DVD 5869

Les Raquetteurs(1958)

A film by Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx. 15 min. DVD 5869 [also contained in the anthology The National Film Board of Canada: A History. 4, French film Production at the NFB DVD 5869; Video/C 4663

Coming from a decade which saw the founding of British realism as well as a flourishing surrealist movement, the thirteen films in this collection reveal a diversity of aesthetics and politics. Different styles and genres jostle each other from Len Lye's magical advertisement of Shell Oil, The birth of the robot, to Norman McLaren's anti-war classic Hell Unltd, while Elton and Anstey's Housing problems points to the future format of the television documentary.

A major retrospective of the British documentary-film movement during its period of greatest influence. These films--many of which are available here for the first time since their original release--capture the spirit and strength, concerns and resolve of Britain and its people before, during and after the Second World War. Bonus features: John Grierson at the NFT (1959) ; Close up: recollections of British documentary (2007).
DVD X1229

In 1948, the British Transportation Commission set up its own in-house film production unit led for 25 years by Edgar Anstey -- a founding father of the British documentary movement. it became one of the largest industrial film units in Britain. In this selection of films the documentary aficionado will recognise the development of traits and innovations in British non-fiction filmmaking. Disc 1: West Country journey / director, Syd Sharples (1953, 26 min.) -- A letter for Wales / Tony Thompson (1960, 25 min.) -- Cyclists special (1955, 16 min.) -- Holiday / John Taylor (1957, 18 min.) -- The heart is Highland / John Taylor (1952, 20 min.) -- Any man's kingdom / Tony Thompson (1956, 20 min.) -- Disc 2: Glasgow belongs to me / Edward McConnell (1966, 17 min.) -- The England of Elizabeth / John Taylor (1957, 27 min.) -- Capital visit / Syd Sharples (1955, 20 min.) -- The heart of England / Michael Clarke (1954, 20 min.) -- East Anglian holiday / Michael Clarke (1954, 20 min.) -- The coasts of Clyde / James Ritchie (1959, 20 min.). DVD 6212

Britain at War: The First Days

The first days / producer: Alberto Cavalcanti; directors: Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, Pat Jackson (1939, 23 min.) --The front line / director: Harry Watt (1940, 6 min.) -- Squadron 992 / producer: Alberto Cavalcanti; director: Harry Watt (1940, 26 min.)
First days: Shows many actual and some reconstructed scenes of air raid precautions, military training and evacuations during the first days of the war.
Front line: For three months the town of Dover had been the frontier target for the Reich. There was only one hotel where the American correspondents stayed to record the fall of Britain.
Squadron 992: A compelling drama-documentary about the training of a balloon squadron and its first assignment to the Forth Bridge, which had just been unsuccessfully raided. DVD 6218

The story of an air communique / Ministry of Information (1940, 7 mins.) -- Britain can take it (aka London Can Take It) / directors: Harry Watt, Humphrey Jennings (1940, 9 min.) -- Britain at bay / commentary written and spoken by J.B. Priestley (1940, 8 min.) -- Men of the lightship / producer: Alberto Cavalcanti; director: David MacDonald (1940, 25 min.) -- Christmas under fire / director: Harry Watt (1941, 10 min.) Story of an air communique: Made for the Ministry of Information to show how accurately the figures for destroyed enemy aircraft were compiled and checked. DVD 6219

Street, Sarah. "Christmas Under Fire: The Wartime Christmas in Britain." In: Christmas at the movies : images of Christmas in American, British and European cinema / edited by M
London ; New York : I.B. Tauris Publishers ; New York, NY : Distributed in the United States and Canada by St. Martin's Press, 2000.
(Full text available online [UC Berkeley users only]; Print: Main (Gardner) Stacks; PFA PN1995.9.C5113 C66 2000)

Directors: Harry Watt, Humphrey Jennings. American journalist Quentin Reynolds presented this despatch from London that gave Roosevelt the kind of material he needed to swing U.S. popular opinion behind Britain in the war. Britain at bay: Nazi Germany has swallowed Czechoslovakia, invaded Poland and Norway, overrun Holland and Belgium. The French government had given in. Britain was alone, at bay... Men of the lightship: Reconstruction of events surrounding the Nazi bombing of the East Dudgeon lightship and the fate of those who manned it. Christmas under fire: Quentin Reynolds second film despatch from London to America shows Christmas 1940, the year of the blitz. 9 min. DVD 6219; also on DVD 1279; vhs VIDEO/C 5025

Reynolds, Quentin James. Britain can take it; based on the film. New York, E.P. Dutton and company, inc., c1941.
(MAIN: D760.8.L7 R48)

Caller Herrin'

Directed by Alan Harper; made for the Scottish Home Department by Campbell Harper Films. 1947. 20 min. DVD X2753

Cameramen at War. (1943)

Compiled by Len Lye.
A tribute to the cameramen of the British military film units and the newsreel companies that sent back front-line reports. Most of the film shown is of World War II, with special emphasis on the European and North African combat areas. 15 min. Video/C 5027

David.
(1951)

Directed by Paul Dickson. This film was made in Wales, in the town of Ammanford. Most of the players are the people of Ammanford--and the story is true. 38 min. Video/C 5028

A compilation of documentary films made in Great Britain. Industrial Britain examines Britain's factories and mines during the early 1930's. A Colour Box is an experimental film in which abstract images dance across the screen to lively latin music. Granton Trawler is a documentary about fishermen engaged in dragnet fishing off the coast of Scotland. The Private lives of the gannets is a study of the behaviour patterns and lives of a bird colony of gannets situated on Grassholm Island, Wales. Seawards the great ships is a documentary in which the filmaker visits the Clyde River in Scotland to observe the men who build ships as they assemble materials, construct and launch a great variety of vessels. Video/C 999:925

Granton trawler is a documentary study of fishermen engaged in dragnet fishing in the 1930's off the coast of Scotland. Pett and Pott is a mock morality tale created to promote telephone use in which the admirable Petts invest in phone service, while the decadent Potts use their money for a maid. The North Sea reenacts the fate of a storm-tossed ship in distress and features the activities of the GPO and its radio stations along the coast. Video/C 5023

Family Portrait (1951)

A film on the theme of the Festival of Britain 1951. Discusses Britain and her people, composed of a wealth of images of placesand people from all over the country, allusively contrasted and combined. Compares Great Britain to a family in the sense that combined. Compares Great Britain to a family in the sense that both exhibit tolerance, courage, faith, and the will to be disciplined and free. A film by Humphrey Jennings. 24 min. DVD X1229; Video/C 5026

Co-directed with Harry Watt. Uses reenactment techniques to show the Auxiliary Fire Service in Action during the winter and spring of 1940/41, when the Blitz of London was at its height. 72 min. DVD 1279; also on VHS Video/C 5025

Producer: Alberto Cavalcanti; directors: Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, Pat Jackson. Shows many actual and some reconstructed scenes of air raid precautions, military training and evacuations during the first days of the war. 23 min. DVD 6218

Directed by Muir Mathieson. Each section of a symphony orchestra, the woodwinds, strings, brass and percussion, is broken down into its component parts. Differences in instrument construction and sound are explained and demonstrated. In conclusion the orchestra is reconstructed for a performance of Benjamin Britten's a performance of Benjamin Britten's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell. 20 min. Video/C 5024

A collection of six films (and one bonus film) by one of the greatest figures in the celebrated British Documentary Film Movement. Humphrey Jennings is most remembered for the way his work reflects the concerns and conditions of the World War II era in the United Kingdom. These pictures document how Jennings's impressive aesthetic arsenal helped to expand the scope and vocabulary of documentary films. DVD 1279

Stansky, Peter. London's burning : life, death and art in the Second World War / Peter Stansky and William Abrahams. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1994.
(Main Stack NX650.W3.S73 1994)

Listen to Britain (1942)

Written, edited, and directed by Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister. A poetic treatment, using no narration, of the British people during World War II. A vivid tapestry of sound and image intersperses scenes of British preparedness and tranquility. Perhaps Jennings' most outstanding film, Listen to Britain celebrates the perservance of everyday behavior in the face of total war. 19 min. DVD 1279; also on VHS Video/C 5026

Vaughan, Dai. Portrait of an invisible man : the working life of Stewart McAllister, film editor London : BFI, 1983 (MAIN: TR849.M39 V38 1983)

London Can Take It (aka Britain Can Take It)(1940)

Directed by Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt. Shows how people behave under stress and how World War II called forth the most positive and worthwhile aspects of life in Britain. 9 min. DVD 6219; DVD 1279; also on VHS Video/C 5025

Produced by John Grierson, directed by Basil Wright. The Song of Ceylon is a documentary showing traditional culture and primitive economy of the Ceylonese contrasted with the influence of modern commerce. DVD X365; Video/C 5022; Video/C 9417; Video/C 999:524

Guynn, William. "The Art of National Projection: Basil Wright's Song of Ceylon." In: Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video / edited by Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski. pp: 83-98. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, c1998. Contemporary film and television series. (Main Stack PN1995.9.D6.D58 1998; Moffitt PN1995.9.D6.D58 1998)

Directed by Muir Mathieson. Documentary showing how a ballet is made, beginning with a brief demonstration of ballet steps, followed by rehearsal andbackstage scenes, culminating in the performance of a ballet based on a story of a girl who must choose between three suitors. 24 min. Video/C 5024

Target for Tonight. (1945)

Released by the British Ministry of Information. Written and Driected by Harry Watt. This exceptional British film was given special recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 1941 Academy Awards presentations. In documentary realism, it shows a British bomber attack deep into Germany and reflects the concerns and support for that attack. This film is the true story of themen and women who planned and executed the nightly bombing raids on Germany during World War II. 39 min. DVD 5802; vhs Video/C 5026

The saving of Bill Blewitt / producer, Alberto Cavalcanti; director, Harry Watt (25 min., 1937) -- North Sea / producer, Alberto Calvalcanti; director, Harry Watt (32 min., 1938) -- The islanders / producer, J. B. Holmes; director, Maurice Harvey (17 min., 1939) -- A midsummer day's work / camera, Jonah Jones, James E. Rogers (13 min., 1939).
The saving of Bill Blewitt: An early fiction film made in a documentary style, about two fishermen whose boat is wrecked but who manage to save up enough to buy another. North sea: Dramatically reconstructs an actual incident in which an Aberdeen trawler in trouble gets assistance from Wick coastguard radio station. The first successful example of the now familiar drama-documentary. The Islanders: Shows how life on the island of Eriskay, Guernsey and Inner Farne are linked to the mainland by the Post Office. A Midsummer's day work: About the laying of an 18-mile underground telephone cable in the Chilterns from Amersham to Aylesbury. DVD 6062 (PAL)

A War Films Anthology

The world-renowned poet Dylan Thomas made a little-known but valuable contribution to Britain's war effort scripting powerful propaganda films for the Ministry of Information. This unique anthology collects together eight of his finest wartime works. Contents: These are the men (1943) -- Balloon site (1942) -- Wales - Green Mountain, Black Mountain (1942) -- New towns for old (1942) -- The battle for freedom (1942) -- CEMA (1942) -- A city reborn (1945) -- A soldier comes home (1945).
102 min. DVD X1230

Waverley Steps. (1948)

Directed by John Eldridge. Like Walther Ruttmann's Berlin Symphony of a Great City (which it quotes in its opening shots), Waverley steps is an ode to the spirit of a city--in this case, Edinburgh. "It touces on such themes as life and death, romance and divorce, work and entertainment, which were staples of the city \y genre. It's highly controlled and polished cinematography, as well as its carefully arranged and acted vignettes, pull this film away from the genre's documentary impulse." (from container) 31 min. Video/C 5028

Directed by Luis Buñuel. "...Focuses on the Las Hurdes region of Spain, the mountainous area around the town La Alberca, and the intense poverty of its occupants. Buñuel, who made the film after reading the ethnographic study Las Jurdes: étude de géographie humaine (1927) by Maurice Legendre, took a Surrealist approach to the notion of the anthropological expedition. The result was a travelogue in which the narrator’s extreme (indeed, exaggerated) descriptions of human misery of Las Hurdes contrasts with his flat and disinterested manner.
Although some film scholars describe it as a documentary, Land Without Bread is actually an early (some might say prescient) parody of the barely invented genre of documentary filmmaking, according to anthropologist Jeffrey Ruoff." [Wikipedia] 27 min. DVD X2181; also DVD 9135 [PAL Region 2 DVD]; Video/C 8742; another print Video/C 999:173

Presented Army Pictorial Service Signal Corps. A propaganda film created by the U.S. government during World War II traces Germany's development as a military power from the time of Frederick the Great to the end of the Third Reich. Dramatically presents the threat of German militarism through scenes of goose-stepping soldiers, armies in combat, and victorious parades under the leadership of Bismark, the Kaiser, and Hitler. Originally produced in 1945 by the Frank Capra unit. War Department orientation film, official G.F.-11. 52 min. Video/C 5089

Producer/director, Frank Capra; co-director, Joris Ivens. Performers: Walter Huston, Dana Andrews. Produced in 1945 as a motion picture by the U.S. Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps. Propaganda film made during World War II which was intended to acquaint the American with his Japanene counterpart. 63 min. DVD 5802; DVD 613; DVD 1090; also on vhs Video/C 2906

Supervisor, Frank Capra; director, Capt. Stuart Heisler. Traces the role of the Negro soldier in American history from 1776 to 1944, and shows the accomplishments of Negro troops. Written by Carlton Moss. 49 min. DVD 8798; also DVD 8711; vhs Video/C 2176

Aldgate, Tony. "Mr Capra Goes to War: Frank Capra, the British Army Film Unit, and Anglo-American travails in the production of 'Tunisian Victory'." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 11, Issue 1 1991 , pages 21 - 39 UC users only

Note: all DVD versions contain special features: Challenging triva questions and answers, biographies, chapter search, 2 war postures (including background on the poster itself, and the artist who created it), film reel: Inside the Nazi concentration camps.

Prelude to War (1942) Producer and director, Frank Capra. Photography, Robert Flaherty. Reviews events from 1933 to 1939, including the Japanese conquest of Manchuria, the Italian conquest of Ethiopia, and the rise of Hitler. Also discusses the Axis plan of World conquest. 54 min. DVD 37; Video/C 5434

The Battle of Britain (1943) Producer, Frank Capra; director, Anthony Veiler. Presents a documentary film record of the bombing of England by the German Luftwaffe in 1940 and the defense offered by the Royal Air Force. 55 min. DVD 38; Video/C 5437

War comes to America (1945) Producer, Frank Capra; director, Anatole Litvak. Briefly reviews the history of the United States and describes the characteristics, habits, and beliefs of the American people. Explains the events from 1931 to 1941 that caused the United States to enter World War II. 65 min. DVD 40; DVD 5802; Video/C 5440

D-Day and the Normandy Invasion (1945). Producer, Frank Capra; directors, Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak. Reviews the events of D-Day on the night and day of June 5-6, 1944 when the invasion of France occured by the Allies against the Axis powers. 51 min. DVD 40

Producer, Frank Capra; directors, Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak. A pictorial record of a decade of war that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Western hemisphere. The material is taken from newsreels and captured enemy films. 44 min. DVD 41

Appointment in Tokyo (1945).

Producer, Frank Capra; directors, Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak. Against General MacArthur were 1,000 miles of Japanese held islands and Japanese controlled seas. Follows the American World War II campaign in the Pacific. 55 min. DVD 41; also DVD 5802

Your Job In Germany

Directed by Frank Capra; written by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) Bitter, angry view of the Germans designed to halt fraternization between U.S. troops and German civilians. Paris 1945: Postwar newsreel presenting resistance efforts by Parisians. DVD 2065

Producer, William K. McClure ; cinematography, Jean Boffety.
CBS News invited the distinguished French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, to make a film on any subject, anywhere in the world. He chose the state of California and this is the film he made, giving his personal impressions of aspects of the life and the people of that part of the country. The sequences used range from cheer-leading auditions and anti-war protests, to encounter groups and hippie communes. 1970. 23 min. DVD 9934

The Return (The Reunion)(Le Rétour).

A documentary by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and developer of the "street photography" style that has influenced generations of photographers. Le Retour presents the liberation of French prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. Shows the removal of the prisoners to temporary hospitals and pictures joyful reunions with families and friends in Paris. 1946. 21 min DVD 9934; vhs Video/C MM470

Southern Exposures

CBS News invited the distinguished French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, to make a film on any subject, anywhere in the world. In this documentary Cartier-Bresson travels through the United States as he tries to capture its cultural flavor in the late 1960's. 1971. 23 min. DVD 9934

Spain Will Live (L'espagne vivra)

A documentary by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and developer of the "street photography" style that has influenced generations of photographers. L'espagne vivra is the second documentary by Cartier-Bresson on the Spanish Civil War. It looks at the war and its aftermath with commentary by Georges Sadoul. Originally produced in 1938 by Secours Populaire de France. 44 min. DVD 9934

Victory of Life (Victoire de la vie)

A documentary by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and developer of the "street photography" style that has influenced generations of photographers. Victoire de la vie is taken during the civil war inside the hospitals of Republican Spain showing medical care of soldiers. 1937. 49 min. DVD 9934

Heroic documentary on the life of work of British miners. 12 min. DVD 6061 (PAL); vhs Video/C 5024; also on Video/C 9417

French Communiqué

The overall purpose of this British film is to bring home to a British public the extent to which the French army is ready, prepared and able to defend France and, ultimately, Britain itself should the need arise. GPO Film Unit; director, Alberto Cavalcanti. 1940. 15 min.) DVD X4486

The Glorious Sixth of June(1934)

"A flimsy excuse for the kind of film-making fun, on-set and in the cutting room that nonetheless paid off in the Unit's increasingly confident handling of sound and picture. The film incidentally illustrates Cavalcanti's temperamental differences from John Grierson, and it inadvertently prefigures a modern pattern in British advertising whereby the brand is sent up at the same time as being promoted. The announcement of reduced GPO charges is hokily jokey and preceded by five minutes of amiable ribbing of studio feature films, stage melodrama, am-dram, the British Establishment, and stiff upper lips in general. It's all too O.T.T. to count as biting satire, but enlivened by Cavalcanti's low-cost experiments with the medium and plenty of gleeful mugging by the Film Unit staff who appear on-screen." [ScreenOnline] 11 min. DVD X365

North Sea(UK, 1938)

Alberto Cavalcanti, producer. Directed by Harry Watt. The North Sea reenacts the fate of a storm-tossed ship in distress and features the activities of the GPO and its radio stations along the coast. 32 min. DVD 6062 (PAL); vhs Video/C 5023

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs. (UK, 1934)

Pett and Pott is a mock morality tale created to promote telephone use in which the admirable Petts invest in phone service, while the decadent Potts use their money for a maid. 33 min. DVD X365; vhs Video/C 5023

Rien que les heures (Nothing But Time). (France, 1926)

An early quasi-documentary depicting the passage of time during one day in Paris, showing the same characters reappearing at different tasks. The film was the first attempt to express creatively the life of a city on the screen and to dramatize familiar things in familiar surroundings, giving birth to a popular genre. It returned to Lumiere's free-flowing naturalism and outdoor locations but with the added dimension of effective and rhythmic montage. 36 min. DVD X2382; vhs 999:2989

Tells the story of a farmer and his family living in the jungle of northeast Siam, and their struggles for survival against the many wild animals around them -- boars, tigers, leopards and even ... changs! (the Siamese word for elephant). The climactic elephant stampede is still considered one of the most exciting scenes in cinema history. 70 min. DVD 3874; also VHS Video/C 999:2691

A documentary in which Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack, and Marguerite Harrison travel through Asia Minor and Iraq to reach a tribe of nomads in Iran known as the Bakhtyari. They follow the tribe on its forty-eight day trek across deserts, streams, and mountains to reach pasture for their flocks. These three people were the first Westerners to cross the Zardeh Kuh Pass and the first to make this migration with the tribes. Supplementary feature: Film historian Rudy Behlmer audio interview with producer-director Merian C. Cooper. 71 min. DVD 1931

Edward S. Curtis was a driven, pioneer photographer who set out in 1900 to document traditional Indian life. He became the most famous photographer of his time and created an enormous body of work. This film tells the dramatic story of Curtis's life, his monumental work, and his changing views of the people he set out to document. American Indians who are using his photographs for cultural preservation respond to the pictures, tell stories about the people in the photographs and discuss the meaning of the images. A film by Anne Makepeace. 2000. 86 min. DVD 3194; also VHS Video/C 4380

In the Land of the War Canoes: Kwakiutl Indian Life on the Northwest Coast (aka In the Land of the Headhunters)(1914)

Presents an epic saga of Kwakiutl Indian life on the northwest coast of America as
filmed in the summer of 1914 at Kwakiutl villages on Vancouver Island, Canada. The
photographer, Edward S. Curtis, who devoted his life to documenting the
disappearing world of the American Indian, spent three years with the Kwakiutl to meticulously recreate their way of life before the white man came as depicted in this film. 47 min. DVD 373; also on VHS Video/C 3395

A profile of photographer, anthropologist and filmmaker Curtis, who spent 34 years
recording the American Indian tradition. Between 1896 and 1930 Curtis collected interviews and original Indian stories, recorded some 10,000 songs and took 40,000 pictures many of which are used in the production. Film retraces his journeys from the
pueblo regions of the Southwest, north to British Columbia and Alaska. 89 min. Video/C 353

Co-produced, directed, photographed, recorded and edited by Joel DeMott and Jeff Kreines. Examines the American consciousness that led to involvement in Vietnam. Includes interviews with General William Westmoreland, Robert Kennedy, former Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford, Senator William Fulbright, Walt Rostow, and Daniel Ellsberg, as well as American Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese leaders. Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon are shown in rare footage. 112 min. DVD 1184; Video/C 875

Middletown (1982)

Inspired by the studies of Robert and Helen Lynd in 1929 and 1935, this classic six-part series by Peter Davis explores both the continuity and the change embodied in the people and institutions of one Midwestern community: Muncie, Indiana.

Campaign: Follows two candidates, Jim Carey and Alan Wilson, in a Muncie, Indiana mayoral race.
Big game: Captures the annual basketball game between the Muncie Central High School Bearcats and the Anderson High School Indians.
Second time around: A couple plan a second marriage for each and air their attitudes toward marriage, money, children, and social problems.
Community of praise: Examines faith working in the lives of a family whose fundamentalist beliefs are revealed in how they deal with both the emergencies and the oridinary problems and strife of daily life.
Family business: Documents a family of ten who all differ in attitudes toward work but struggle to keep their father's pizza franchise in Muncie, Indiana, from bankruptcy.
Seventeen: Follows a group of Muncie, Indiana seniors through their final year at Southside High School.
DVD X4544 (Seventeen is also on vhs Video/C 4879)

Hoover, Dwight W. "The Middletown Film Project: History and Reflections." Journal of Film and Video Vol. 39, No. 2 (Spring 1987), pp. 52-65
UC users only

The Rise & Fall of the Borscht Belt (1988)

A documentary work of social history comprising reminiscences of the longtime patrons and proprietors in the Borscht Belt. Includes original footage, vintage photographs, and home movies dating back to the area's earliest days. 90 min. Video/C 2001

Selling of the Pentagon

Focuses on major areas of public relations activities of the Pentagon and questions the use of the taxpayers' dollars to provide extensive financial support for apparent propaganda purposes. Produced and written by Peter Davis. Originally presented as a segment on the television program CBS reports. 1971. 51 min. DVD 9385 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C MM361

With palpable outrage, Emile de Antonio assembles period interviews with journalists, politicians, and key military personnel and international newsreel and archival footage to create a scathing chronicle of America's escalating involvement in the Vietnam War. Produced at the height of the war, the savage and horrific images speak for themselves in perhaps the most controversial film of de Antonio's career. Special DVD features: Selected audio commentaries with director Emile de Antonio ; Archival interview with Emile de Antonio by professor June Perry Levine ; theatrical trailers ; liner notes by de Antonio scholar Dan Streible. 105 min. DVD X21; also DVD 4431; also VHS Video/C 1052

One of the most controversial political satires ever made, this film is a compilation of newsreel and TV footage with interviews with various political commentators presenting a comic yet terrifying portrait of Richard M. Nixon. It's all here--including scenes of Nixon advocating the death penalty for drug peddlers, suggestions of using nuclear weapons on Indochina, and the president watching go-go dancers in the White House. Filmmaker Emile de Antonio has said, "I made this film to reveal the terrible comic theater that is American politics." Special DVD features: Theatrical trailer; Senator Richard NIxon's 1952 "Checkers Speech"; Archival interview with Emile de Antonio from Alternative views: "The de Antonio legacy". 93 min. DVD X21; vhs Video/C 6982

This film resulted from de Antonio's discovery that the FBI had been keeping tabs on him over the years, compiling over 10,000 pages of documents on his activities. The film provides fascinating insights into de Antonio's work methods, his personal life and his politics, while affording him the opportunity to avenge himself by presenting his own dossier on J. Edgar Hoover, the infamous former FBI chief. 87 min. DVD X21

Documents the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings through excerpts from the television footage shot during the six weeks of hearings. Includes an introduction by Paul Newman, who places the excerpts in historical perspective. 102 min. DVD 4684; also VHS Video/C 1918

The film introduces each member of the Weathermen Underground Organization in a group discussion/interview made on May 1st, 1975 in a secret location. The era of the 60's and 70's is vividly bought to life by interweaving the stories of the "Weathermen's " personal political development with the significant events and personalities of the two decades. Special DVD features: Archival interview with Emile de Antonio from Alternative views: "The de Antonio legacy". 88 min. DVD 21; vhs Video/C 3219

Walt Disney Studios

Directed by Hamilton Luske; Walt Disney Studios. "Our Friend The Atom...was produced by Disney in cooperation with the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics, builders of the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus. As a "Tomorrowland" segment of the Disneyland television show, Our Friend The Atom relates the history of atomic energy, beginning with a clip from the earlier film 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, which erroneously maintains that author Jules Verne predicted the use of atomic energy. The film then progresses to an animated fairy tale of a fisherman who finds a bronze bottle in his net. Opening the flask, the fisherman is confronted by a genie, who explains that after centuries of confinement, he has resolved to kill whomever opens the bottle. The fisherman feigns surprise that so large a being could fit into the bottle. The genie returns to the vessel to prove that it can be done, and the wily fisherman corks the bottle up. Finally, the genie relents and promises to grant the fisherman his wishes if the bottle is uncorked. Says the narrator, "The story of the atom is like this fable, come true through science. For centuries we have been casting our nets into the sea of the great unknown in search of knowledge. Finally, we found a vessel and, like the one in the fable, it contains the genie."
In a combination of live-action and animation, Our Friend The Atom moves from this fairy tale premise to an international history of atomic energy that culminates in American control of the technology. To soothe public apprehension, atomic energy is explained in terms of common household items. An atomic reactor, the viewer is told, is just like a big furnace. An atomic chain reaction is likened to what happens when a stray ping-pong ball is thrown at a mass of mousetraps with ping-pong balls set on each one. The narrator relates that an atomic explosion might be like the angry genie, but with the nuclear reactor and the magic power to transmute ordinary materials into radioactive tools in science and medicine, "Here lies our chance to make the atomic genie our friend." The film ends with the prediction that "clean" nuclear reactors will replace grimy coal and oil power plants. Radiation will be used to produce better crops and livestock. People will zoom from place to place in atomic cars, trains, boats and planes. "Then, the atom will become truly our friend."" [From: Langer, Mark. "Disney's Atomic Fleet." Animation World Magazine, Issue 3.1, April 1998]

Included in the compilation Tomorrowland: Disney in space and beyond.DVD 3605

Disc 1. Introduction by Roy Disney -- White wilderness (1958, 72 min.) -- Water birds (1951, 31 min.) -- Beaver valley (1950, 32 min.) -- Prowlers of the Everglades (1953, 32 min) -- Disc 2: Mysteries of the deep (1959, 24 min.) -- Wonders of the water worlds (50 min.) -- Crisler story (19 min.) -- Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Birds (9 min.) -- Filmmakers' journal (22 min.) -- Collectors' Corner (3 min) -- Original theatrical trailers (6 min.)
Disney's acclaimed, groundbreaking nature series captures the wonder of animals and nature. White Wilderness looks at the daily lives of arctic animals such as polar bears, walruses, goldenyes, wolverines and lemmings. Water Birds focuses on the behaviors of water birds filmed in various islands across the globe. Beaver Valley looks at the life of beavers and their neighbors, squirrels, otters, coyotes and blue herons. Prowlers of the Everglades follows creatures living in the Everglades, focusing on alligators, snakes, otters, raccoons and birds. Mysteries of the Deep examines exotic and rare fish and sea life around the world. Wonders of the Water World tracks the course of a body of water from brook to lake to sea, featuring the lives of animals that inhabit in or near it. The Crisler story is a look at the life of True-Life Adventures filmmakers Herb and Alice Crisler. 318 min. DVD 6708

True Life Adventures: Lands of Exploration.

Disc 1. Introduction by Roy Disney -- Living desert (1953, 69 min.) -- Vanishing prairie (1954, 71 min.) -- Seal Island (1948, 27 min.) -- Disc 2. Islands of the sea (1960, 28 min.) -- Nature's strangest creatures (1959, 16 min.) -- Prairie (1954, 23 min.) -- Behind the True-Life cameras (1955, 24 min.) -- Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Desert insects (4 min.) -- Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Snakes (5 min.) -- Filmmakers' journal (37 min.) -- Collectors' corner (3 min.) -- Trailers and promos (16 min.)
Disney's acclaimed, groundbreaking nature series captures the wonder of animals and nature. Living desert: This first feature-length True-Life adventure film focuses on the lives of the animals, insects and plants of the southwestern American desert. Vanishing Prairie: A look into the animal and bird life of the American prairie including extensive filming of prairie dog "towns." Seal Island: Extensive look at the lives of the fur seals on the Pribilof Isands. Islands of the Sea: Goes island-hopping around the world to little know islands with each island home to at least one unique bird, fish or other critter. Nature's strangest creatures: Looks at the unusual animals of Australia including kangaroos, giant bats, flying squirrels and the duck-billed platypus. Prairie: Looks at the animals of the prairie, including footage of the photographers at work. Behind the True-Life Cameras: Follows photographers in the Everglades and Africa. 298 min. DVD 6709

ntroduction by Roy Disney -- Secrets of life (1956, 70 min.) -- Perri (1957, 74 min.) -- Nature's half acre (1951, 33 min.) -- Searching for nature's mysteries (1956, 48 min.) -- Adventure in Wildwood heart (1957, 49 min.) -- Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Butterflies (7 min.) -- Tribute to Winston Hibler (16 min.) -- Filmmakers' journal (35 min.) -- Collectors' corner (8 min.) -- Original theatrical trailers (6 min.)
Disney's acclaimed, groundbreaking nature series captures the wonder of animals and nature. Secrets of life: Profiles animal and plant life from all over the natural spectrum, focusing on the means by which life supports, sustains and replicates itself. Coverage includes blooming flowers, pollination, the life cycles of ants and bees, freshwater and ocean fish and a variety of other fascinating species. Perri: Using a pre-scripted storyline written by Felix Salten (author of Bambi), this film tells the story of a young squirrel named Perri, whose exploration of the world, fierce rivalry with an aggressive marten and a bobcat and love for another squirrel drive the action. Nature's half acre: Examines the goings-on in the "hidden world" located in a half acre of land. Searching for nature's mysteries: Photographer Winston Hibler demonstrates some of the then-new technologies and tricks of the trade used in creating the True-Life adventure films. Adventure in Wildwood Heart: Focuses on filmmakers and their efforts at capturing real-life footage that would correspond with the pre-determined script for the film Perri. 328 min. DVD 6711

Victory Through Air Power

Directed by Perce Pearce, et al. Walt Disney Pictures. "The popular film maker Walt Disney read the book [by Alexander de Seversky] and felt that its message was so important that he personally financed the animated production of "Victory Through Air Power." The film was primarily created to express Seversky?s theories to government officials and the public. Movie critic Richard Schickel says that Disney "pushed the film out in a hurry, even setting aside his distrust of limited animation under the impulses of urgency." (The only obvious use of limited animation, however, is in diagrammatic illustrations of Seversky's talking points. These illustrations often feature continuous flowing streams of iconic aircraft, forming bridges or shields, or war material moving continuously along assembly lines.) It was not until 1945 Disney was able to pay off his 1.2 million dollar war film deficit." [Wikipedia] DVD 2735; vhs 999:840

Between 1941 and 1945, The Disney Studio was taken over by the military as part of the war effort. This compilation includes never-before-seen Disney war effort productions, including exclusive declassified material, training, propaganda and educational films. Includes "Victory Through Air Power, "Disney's full length feature animated classic. Also includes first hand accounts of the work at Disney. Contents: [Disc 1] Donald gets drafted -- Army mascot -- Private Pluto -- Fall out, fall in -- Old Army game -- Home defense -- How to be a sailor -- Commando duck -- Vanishing private -- Sky trooper -- Victory vehicles -- Fuehrer's face -- Education for death -- Reason and emotion -- Thrifty pig -- Seven wise dwarfs -- Donald's decision -- All together -- New spirit -- Spirit of '43 -- Food will win the war -- Out of the frying pan and into the firing line -- Grain that built a hemisphere -- Defense against invasion -- Cleanliness brings health -- What is disease? -- Planning for good eating -- Chicken Little -- Winged scourge. [Disc 2] Four methods of flush riveting -- Stop that tank -- Training film montage -- Victory through air power -- Bonus features. 210 min. DVD 2735

Drew Associates; producer, Gregory Shuker; film makers, Richard Leacock; James Lipscomb, D.A. Pennebaker, Hope Ryden.
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his brother, U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, forced one of the gravest racial confrontations of the 20th century. Despite a federal court order, Alabama Governor George Wallace vowed he would prevent two black students from entering the all-white University of Alabama. With a revolutionary new style of filmmaking using hand-held cameras, filmmaker Robert Drew and his four-team crew were at work recording the crisis as it unfolded, capturing the story from all sides up until its dramatic climax. 1963. 53 min. DVD 3067

Kennedy vs. Wallace

"Acclaimed documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back, The War Room) and Richard Leacock (Lulu in Berlin) were part of the team behind this amazing cinema verite account of the conflict between President Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace surrounding the admission of two black students to the all-white University of Alabama in June of 1963. Originally titled Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, the film has been updated to include the reactions of Vivian Malone, one of the students who enrolled, and former Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Produced by the trailblazing documentary unit Robert Drew & Associates." 1988. 60 min. [Facets catalog] Video/C 2876

The journey of the independent filmmaker is explored through interviews with documentary filmmaker, Robert Drew. Examines the filmmakers' work from inspiration to realization asking such questions as: What drew the filmmaker to the material? How was the money raised? Did the director rehearse, storyboard or plan his shots? How was the film marketed? c2001. 58 min. Video/C MM365

Letters from Vietnam

This pioneering documentary follows a young veteran of sixty helicopter combat missions in Vietnam into battle, presenting the first synchronous sound helicopter combat footage ever shot. The film also delves into a more personal side of the pilot's life as he discovers through tape recorded letters to his wife and through a visit to a Vietnamese orphanage that he has a responsibility that goes beyond his military duties. Producer, Robert L. Drew. 1965. 52 min. Video/C 8989

Primary (1961)

A candid film covering the political campaign efforts during the 1960 Wisconsin Democratic Presidential Primary when Sen. John F. Kennedy upset Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey. Shot entirely in synchronous sound with light-weight portable equipment, the film revolutionized documentary filmmaking with its spontaneous, unobtrusive and highly intimate style. Credits: Conceived and produced by Robert Drew for Time-Life Broadcast; directed by Ricky Leacock, Don Pennebaker, Robert Drew, Al Maysles. 60 min. DVD 2112; also on VHS Video/C 4839

Films by the American husband and wife team of Charles and Ray Eames who are designers, architects and photographic artists. Powers of Ten illustrates a picnic in Chicago and then begins moving ten times farther out every ten seconds, until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light. Then, we move inward into the hand of a sleeping picnicker with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. A Rough Sketch is an earlier version of the same concept illustrated in Powers of ten. 901: after 45 years of working examines the Office of Charles and Ray Eames as it is being dismantled and cleaned out. Contents: Powers of ten (1977; rough sketch 1968). 901, after 45 years of working (1989). DVD 4725; also DVD 372

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames. Volume 2.

Toccata for toy trains is a trip through a world of antique toys, and toy trains. House: after five years of living illustrates the home and studio designed and built by Charles Eames on a hill in California overlooking the ocean. Lucia Chase vignette follows a sister chasing her brother through the Eames house and vicinity. Kaleidoscope jazz chair is a kaleidoscope tour of the Eames office and their multicolored chairs. The Black ships illustrates Admiral Perry's 1853 naval expedition to Japan through Japanese prints. In Atlas a map of the Roman Empire expands and contracts, encapsulating the ebb and flow of the Empire's history. Blacktop: a story of the washing of a school play yard focuses on the patterns and abstractions created by the soapy water. Contents: Toccata for toy trains (1952) -- House: after five years of living (1955) -- Lucia chase vignette (1976) -- Kaleidoscope jazz chair (1960) -- The Black ships (1970) -- Atlas -- Blacktop (1952). DVD 4726; also DVD 298

Contents: Day of the dead -- S-73 (Sofa compact) -- Babbage -- Alpha -- Exponents: a study in generalization -- Solar Do-Nothing machine -- Aquarium (National Fisheries Center and Aquarium) -- Parade. The legacy of the husband and wife team includes more than 100 short films. Day of the dead records the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. S-73 (Sofa compact) traces the design and development of the Sofa Compact. Babbage: A film giving a little of the feel of Babbage's Difference Engine -- a mechanical antecedent of the electronic computer. Alpha: A film on an important concept in algebra. Exponents: A study of the concept of exponents. Solar Do-Nothing Machine: footage of their remarkable Solar Do-Nothing Machine. Aquarium: Model in film form of the National Aquarium design. Parade: Robots, floating bulls heads, toy soldiers and much more ... march down the boulevard. 60 min. DVD 4730

Powers of Ten: A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero.

Dealing with scale, proportion and dimension, the film moves in real time over a course of 40 powers of ten, from the cosmic distances of the universe to the heart of the atom. Some techniques used are classical and radio astronomy; large-format aerial, mapping, and satellite photography; X-ray diffraction analysis; and models. Based on the book Cosmic view, by Kees Boeke. 1977. DVD 4725; also DVD 372; vhs Video/C 1475

Examines Robert Flaherty's career as "the father of the modern documentary film" and the dispute about his staged scenes. Includes excerpts from his films as well as telling interviews with the people whose parents and grandparents Flaherty put onto the cinema screens of the world: Inuit, Samoans and the 'wild men' of Aran. Interviews and contributions from Richard Leacock (cameraman on "Louisiana Story", 1948), Martha Flaherty ( Flaherty's Inuit granddaughter), George Stoney (documentary filmmaker and professor at New York University), Seán Crosson (film scholar at the Huston School of Film), Jay Ruby (anthropologist and film scholar at Temple University), Deirdre Ní Chonghaile (musician and folklorist from Árainn). Directed by Mac Dara Ó Curraidhín 2010. 84 min. DVD X6724

Documents work in Britain's factories and mines during the early 1930's. 21 min. DVD X1229; vhs Video/C 5022

The Land (1941)

Originally released as motion picture in 1941 by the U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Agency. Credits: Director, Robert J. Flaherty; collaborator, Frances H. Flaherty; commentary, Russell Lord; composer, Richard Arnell; editor, Helen van Dongen. Portrays American agriculture during the depression decade. Explores the problems of agricultural unemployment, erosion of farm land, the desolate lives of migrant workers, and the role of the machine in farming. 44 min. Video/C 3225

Credits: Director, Robert J. Flaherty; screenplay, Robert and Frances Flaherty; photography, Richard Leacock; music, Virgil Thomson; editing, Helen Van Dongen. Dramatizes the coming of industrialization, in the form of oil exploration and drilling, to the Louisiana bayou as seen through the eyes of a Cajun boy living in Petit Anse Bayou. A lyrical tribute to the marshlands and cypress swamps of the bayou and the culture of the Cajun people. 1948. 79 min. DVD 1664; also on VHS Video/C 8893

Coogan, Jack. "Louisiana Story and an Ecology of the Imagination." Wide Angle 20.2 (April 1998): 59-69.

Man of Aran (1934)

Credits: Writer, Robert J. Flaherty; cinematography, Robert J. Flaherty, Francis Flaherty, John Goldman; music, John Greenwood. Depicts the daily existence and fight for survival of the fisherfolk living on the remote and barren Aran Islands of Ireland. Special DVD features: How the Myth was made (60 min. documentary about the making of Man of Aran) -- Hidden and Seeking: a documentary excerpt featuring Frances Flaherty -- Flaherty and Film: a filmed discussion of Man of Aran with Frances Flaherty -- Looking Back: Robert J. Flaherty reflects on the making of Man of Aran -- Outside the Frame: a gallery of rare photos and sketches. 77 min. DVD 1687; also on VHS Video/C 3813

Documentary about the making of Man of Aran. Made for George Stoney's class at NYU in the Documentary Tradition in which Robert Flaherty's classic MAN OF ARAN was featured. It's twin purposes were to help students understand how documentary evolved from concepts very different from the cinema verit? or "fly on the wall" approach that has been dominant since changes in technology made the new approach possible from the early 1960's. It also serves as a reminder of the filmmaker's own impact on the places and people filmed and the responsibility the maker has to those filmed as well as to his audience. 60 min. Supplement accompanying Man of Aran, DVD 1687

Moana: A Romance of the South Seas.

"Life and love in the South Seas... Robert Flaherty's famous travelogue." The rites, customs, and daily lives of the Samoan natives of Savaii Island, Western Samoa are depicted in this early 20th century ethnographic film. "In 1923, Jesse Lasky of Paramount offered Flaherty the opportunity to shoot a film anywhere in the world?so long as it turned out to be another Nanook. Flaherty, along with his wife and family, traveled to the village of Safune on the Samoan island of Savaii to record the traditional culture of a civilization which was rapidly changing and becoming westernized under British rule. The result was Moana: A Romance of the Golden Age. Shot in black and white on panchromatic film, Moana has an almost stereoscopic look?the figures seem solid and real and the colors of the island foliage appear as varying shades of silvery-gray. The film explores the lives of the lovely and gentle Samoans and culminates in a ritual tattooing. Although not on the same level as Nanook or some of Flaherty's later work, Moana was received with critical acclaim and popularity on its release. In fact, John Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe the film. During the making of Moana, Flaherty, the independent filmmaker, had his first conflict with the studio system when Paramount insisted he cut the film for a slightly shorter running time." [CinemaWeb] 1926. 76 min. DVD 8274 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 6170

Credits: Photography, Robert Flaherty; music, Stanley Silverman. A saga of an Eskimo family pitting their strength against a vast and inhospitable Arctic. Juxtaposes their struggle for survival against the elements with the human warmth of the little family.

Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North created the very genre of film documentary, with its documentation of the Inuit and Eskimo traditions. This film revisits Inukjiak, the site of Flaherty's filming to critically re-examine the realities behind the ground-breaking documentary and the changes since it was made almost 70 years ago. Director, Claude Massot; writers, Claude Massot, Sebastien Regnier. Dist: Films Media Group. 1994. 55 min. DVD 2915; also VHS Video/C 5824

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

Co-directed with F.W. Murnau. A boy (Matahi) and a girl (Reri) are in love but she is chosen by a high priest to join the ranks of the sacred virgins, thereby becoming tabu to all men. The two escape by canoe to another island but the story ends tragically with the death of Matahi. Begun in collaboration with Robert Flaherty and shot on location in Tahiti, F.W. Murnau's last film is a visual paean to the beauty of a now-vanished way of life. "Only native-born South Sea Islanders appear in this picture with a few half-castes and Chinese"-- Opening frame. 82 min. DVD 1327; also VHS Video/C 999:1243

Eyman, Scott.
"Sunrise in Bora Bora." (prints saved from "Taboo" a film made over 60 years ago by film makers Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and Robert Flaherty) Film Comment v26, n6 (Nov-Dec, 1990):24 (6 pages).

Robert Flaherty, Director of Photography. "The title of this film refers to Manhattan, bought by Dutch colonists from local Indians for that price. By 1925, on the 300th anniversary of its purchase, needless to say, it had altered considerably, and in this film the viewer is offered a vision of contemporary Manhattan, with awesome cityscapes and busy waterways. In this, it is quite similar to many other 'city view' films." [Internet Movie Database]. 1927. 10 min. DVD 4670

The Year of the Hunter

This documentary tells the story of the making of Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North and the Inuit who starred in the film. Clips from the original motion picture are interspersed with dramatizations in which Adamie Inukpuk, Nanook's great-grandson, plays the famed hunter. Dist: Films Media Group. 2004. 51 min. DVD 3734

An early example of ultra-realism, this documentary contrasts the quiet, bucolic life in the outskirts of Paris with the harsh, gory conditions inside the nearby slaughterhouses. Describes the fate of the animals in an orgy of carnage and blood, and that of the workers in graphic detail. 22 min. DVD 3065 (supplement to feature film Eyes Without a Face); also on VHS Video/C MM290

Free Cinema consisted of a group of young film-makers who decided to rebel against the stifling, stuffy conformity of British cinema in the late fifties and to make their own films outside the confines of 'the system'. This video is a compilation of three short films about British working class life in which the directors express their personal viewpoints without obligation to subscribe to the technical or social conventions imposed on commercial film-making. Video/C MM356

Granton trawler is a documentary study of fishermen engaged in dragnet fishing in the 1930's off the coast of Scotland. 11 min. DVD X365; DVD 6061 (PAL); vhs Video/C 5023 and Video/C 999:925

John Grierson

Reviews the life and work of documentary filmmaker John Grierson through interviews with the filmmaker, his family, friends, and professional associates. Founder of the National Film Board of Canada in 1938, Grierson was convinced that the filmmaker had a social responsibility and set a pattern for filmmaking in the public service that is still a model for the world. 1973. 59 min. Video/C 9412

In this documentary filmmaker Bert Haanstra attemps to show the behaviour patterns which are shared by both man and animals. He follows a variety of animals in the wild contrasting their behaviors with humans as they share the instinct for survival and resulting behaviours. 100 DVD X2165

A documentary examining the close and varying relationship of the Dutch with water, which is both their faithful servant and their bitterest foe. Includes footage of dike construction, commercial fishing, boat races and other recreation on the water, a rescue at sea and the aftermath of flooding.
93 min. DVD X2165

An epic study of athletes struggling to excel against their own bodies and against each other. Kon Ichikawa used 164 cameramen and over 100 cameras to show the humanity of the competitors--the tears of the Japanese women volleyball champions, the bellow of the hammer throwers, the pain of the collapsed marathon runner and the solitude of the loser, finishing his lap alone. 170 min. DVD 1280; also on VHS Video/C 4788 Pt. 1-2

"The vertical lift-bridge is the object of study in The Bridge. Normally it seems to be a very static object, but Joris
Ivens made a very dynamic film out of it. "For me, the bridge consisted of a laboratory of movements, tints,
forms, contrasts, rythms and the relationship between all these phenomena". The film was immediately
recognized as a masterpiece by international critics and colleague filmmakers; Joris Ivens was at once the
most famous avant-garde filmmaker of the Netherlands." [from European Foundation Joris Ivens] DVD X1697; Video/C 7811

400 Million(1938)

The Japanese aggression against China in 1937 forced the Chinese communists to join Chiang Kai-shek's Kwomintang to take up the battle against their common enemy. Focusing on the battle of T'aiertshwang, this film shows all aspects of a war: the battle, the preparations, refugees, casualties and victims, the fear and distress, the human misery and the courage, and the land under fire. 52 min. DVD 717; also on DVD X1698

Waugh, Thomas. "The 400 Million (1938) and the solidarity film: 'halfway between Hollywood and Newsreel'." Studies in Documentary Film Volume: 3 | Issue: 1 September 2009 UC users only

Indonesia Calling(1946)

A film shot partially in secret in the 1940's, unabashedly demanding independence for Indonesia as it documents the Indonesian people's struggle for freedom from Dutch occupation. 24 min. DVD X1699; Video/C 9565

A documentary on the reclamation of the Zuiderzee in the late 1920's and early 1930's. DVD X1697; Video/C 999:524; also Video/C 7811

Know Your Enemy--Japan (1945)

Scripted and co-directed (with Frank Capra) by Joris Ivens. Produced as a motion picture by the U.S. Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps., 1945. Propaganda film made during World War II which was intended to acquaint the American with his Japanene counterpart. 63 min. DVD 5802; DVD 613; DVD 1090; also on vhs Video/C 2906

"In the framework of the New Deal politics Joris Ivens was commissioned to film the benefits of rural
electrification. The film shows the situation before and after the Rural Electrification Administration brought
electricity to the farm of the Parkinson family. Although the commentary is a bit over the top, this documentary is
a beautiful poetic film on the development of the American countryside." [from European Foundation Joris Ivens] 38 min. DVD 691; also on DVD X1698; Video/C 5060

Co-Directed with Mannus Franken. "A day in the life of a rain-shower. As a city symphony Joris Ivens films Amsterdam and its changing appearence
during a rain-shower. A very poetic film with changing moods, following the change from sunny Amsterdam
streets to rain drops in the canals and the pooring rain on windows, umbrellas, trams and streets, untill it clears
up and the sun breaks through once again. Although it seems to be one day it took Ivens a long time to film what
he wanted to film (for even in Amsterdam it doesn't rain every day). With The Bridge, Rain became his major
breakthrough as an avant-garde film artist. In 1932 Joris Ivens asked Lou Lichtveld (who also made the music for Philips Radio) to make a sound version of it, and in 1941 the film inspired Hanns Eisler to compose his "Fourteen ways to describe rain" in the context of a 'Film Music Project'." [from European Foundation Joris Ivens] DVD 4191; also on DVD X1697; Video/C 7811 and Video 999:108

Credits: Screenplay, Lillian Hellman, John Dos Passos, and Archibald MacLeish; photography, John Ferno; film editor, Helen van Dongen; music, Marc Blitzstein, Virgil Thomson; narrator, Ernest Hemingway (alternative track on DVD X1698 : Orson Welles). Written and narrated by Ernest Hemingway, this documentary was produced during the Spanish Civil War to dramatize the effect of the Fascist uprising on the ordinary citizen. Shows the struggle to protect Madrid from Francisco Franco's followers, the bombing of the city by German and Italian planes, and farmers trying to construct an irrigation system under the near-impossible circumstances of war. The author's only screenwriting effort and his only film appearance. 60 min. DVD 717; also on DVD X1698; DVD X6449; VHS 999:1131

Presents an imaginary diary of the last phase of World War II for later use of a child born during the period. 39 min. DVD 1279; DVD X1229; also on VHS Video/C 5026

Dim Little Island(1948)

Jennings' penultimate film, which dispels the myth of the British being a dull insular race as it explores the achievements of Britain and its people. Featuring Osbert Lancaster, cartoonist, Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer, James Fisher, naturalist and John Ormston, industrialist. 10 min. DVD X1229

Farewell Topsails(1937)

"Jennings made Farewell Topsails for the Adrian Klein/Dufay-Chromex company as one of three shorts designed to show how the process looked, the other two being a charming view of English rural life, English Harvest, and a negligible piece, possibly assembled from out-takes of English Harvest, titled The Farm (both 1938)." ... Farewell Topsails, cut to the jaunty sound of a sailor's accordion, and shot in the brilliant summer sunlight of 1937, records one of the last voyages of a commercial sailing ship carrying her cargo of extracted kaolin on a trip from Cornwall. There is not much that is obviously personal about the film, save for the fact that it recorded the passing of an ancient mode of technology in favour of an industrial mode - one of the grand themes of Jennings' unfinished work Pandaemonium." [ScreenOnline] 8 min. DVD X1229

Family Portrait (1951)

A film on the theme of the Festival of Britain 1951. Discusses Britain and her people, composed of a wealth of images of places and people from all over the country, allusively contrasted and combined. Compares Great Britain to a family in the sense that combined. Compares Great Britain to a family in the sense that both exhibit tolerance, courage, faith, and the will to be disciplined and free. 24 min. DVD 1279; DVD X1229; also on VHS Video/C 5028

Fires Were Started. (1943)

Co-directed with Harry Watt. Uses reenactment techniques to show the Auxiliary Fire Service in Action during the winter and spring of 1940/41, when the Blitz of London was at its height. 72 min. DVD 1279; also on VHS 5025

Written, edited, and directed by Humphrey Jennings and Steward McAllister. A poetic treatment, using no narration, of the British people during World War II. A vivid tapestry of sound and image intersperses scenes of British preparedness and tranquility. Perhaps Jennings' most outstanding film, Listen to Britain celebrates the perservance of everyday behavior in the face of total war. 19 min. DVD 1279; DVD X1229; also vhs Video/C 5026

Vaughan, Dai. Portrait of an invisible man : the working life of Stewart McAllister, film editor London : BFI, 1983 (MAIN: TR849.M39 V38 1983)

London Can Take It (aka Britain Can Take It)(1940)

Shows how people behave under stress and how World War II called forth the most positive and worthwhile aspects of life in Britain. 9 min. DVD 1279; DVD 6219; also on VHS Video/C 5025

Myra Hess, Playing the First Movement of Beethoven's Sonata in F Minor No. 57 (Apassionata) (1945)

9 mins. DVD 1279

Spare Time(1939)

Producer, Alberto Cavalcanti. "Marvelously elusive war-time propaganda documentary that is both patriotic and mysterious. It is about the leisure activities of miners, steel-workers and cotton-mill employees, mostly musical. The scene that annoyed the social realists at the time was the kazoo band of the millworkers, who play Rule Britannia and produce an elevated tableau of the Britannia figure with her shield and trident. It is almost Andr? Kert?sz in its surrealism (Jennings was a member of the UK Surrrealist group). But the film is moving too in its trust in the people it presents, a trust tempered with strangeness, angularity and some kind of apprehension of darkness, as in the last shot of the miners descending in their cages. There is no war fever in it at all. It is almost the Blakean view of what it is to be English." [Internet Movie Database] 14 min. DVD 6061; also on vhs Video/C 9417

Words for Battle(1941)

Narration: Laurence Olivier. "The first of four films that Lindsay Anderson considered Humphrey Jennings' best work, Words For Battle was described by the filmmaker himself as being "about the Lincoln statue in Parliament Square". This seems a curious definition for a documentary originally known as In England Now, which marries excerpts from major passages of English poetry and prose with footage of the contemporary, war-afflicted landscape, and in which Lincoln's statue only appears at the very end. But it makes sense of the whole trajectory of the film and of Jennings' underlying theme." [ScreenOnline] 8 mins. DVD X1229; DVD 1279

The Johnsons, naturalists and explorers, journed across Africa in the 1920s and 30s, encountering and filming many forms of native wildlife and people. Produced as a motion picture in 1930 by Talking Epics Pictures. 79 min. DVD 5965

Early 20th century naturalists and explorers, Martin and Osa Johnson journey across Africa in 1935 in two amphibious airplanes, encountering and filming African natives and many forms of wildlife including lions, rhino, elephants, and especially a large population of baboons. A prime example of the type of popular, wildly exploitative travel film made in the US between 1920 and 1950. 73 min. Video/C MM304

Congorilla (Mr. and Mrs. Martin Johnson's Congorilla: Adventures Among the Big apes and Little People of Central Africa

Follows the fourth trip of naturalists and explorers Martin and Osa Johnson to Africa as they travel in two amphibious airplanes, encountering and filming gorillas, giraffes, lions, rhino, elephants, crocodiles, hippo and other birds and animals of the Serengetti Plains, Kenya and the Congo and pygmies and other native inhabitants. A prime example of the type of popular, wildly exploitative travel film made in the US between 1920 and 1950. 1932. 67 min. Video/C MM306

Covers Osa Johnson's memoirs of the Osa and Martin Johnson explorations of Africa and the South Seas in the early 20th century and their photography of native people and animals. Describes a failed trip to Borneo that the Johnsons successfully made up for 20 years later. 77 min. DVD 5827

Filmed in East Africa during the second Martin Johnson African Expedition, 1923-1928.
Records Martin and Osa Johnson's expedition to East Africa, the chief purpose of which was to capture on film rapidly disappearing African wildlife as well as East African peoples (Samburu, Dorobo, etc.) and their customs. Includes extensive footage of elephants, giraffes and lions. Also shown is the lion-spearing ceremony perfomed by the Lumbwa (part of this sequence was filmed by Carl Akeley and Alfred J. Klein). The film opens with an introduction by Martin and Osa Johnson. Introduction recorded in New York, ca. 1932. 83 min. Video/C 7326

A peace-loving man with a decidedly global perspective, Albert Kahn spent most of his life and wealth trying to expand Western understanding of other cultures -- largely through film and photography. Originally released in 2007 as a series for BBC television. Dist.: Films Media Group.

This program delves into Kahn's origins and formative years and the launch of his Archive of the Planet project. Topics include Kahn's Jewish ancestry and Alsacian upbringing; his early success in finance; his admiration of Japanese art and customs; the development of autochrome photography by the Lumière brothers; Marguerite Mespoulet's colorful documentation of Ireland's vanishing Celtic traditions; and Kahn's expedition to Cornwall and London with August Leon. 50 min. DVD X5707

Men of the World

In 1908, Albert Kahn and his chauffeur embarked on a global trek to observe and absorb other cultures -- an early "prototype' of the many photographic missions Kahn would fund over the years. this program illustrates that formative round-the-world trip as well as the 1913 journey undertaken by photographer Stéphane Passet to China, Mongolia and India. Viewers will encounter startling images of early 20th century Manhattan, San Francisco, Tokyo and Beijing, as well as views of nascent Rio de Janeiro and burgeoning Buenos Aires. Scenes from Tsarist Siberia, the Mongolian steppes, a Varanasi teeming with worshippers, and a camel-and-elephant caravan on the Khyber Pass reaffirm the spectacular value of Kahn's grand project. 52 min. DVD X5708

Europe on the Brink

Poverty, emigration, declining birth rates, and ethnic divisions weakened many European countries as the 20th century began. From France to the Balkans, leaders prescribed nationalism and military buildup as the only solutions. This program studies the continent's march to war as depicted in the photographic record commissioned by French banker Albert Kahn. Early color images and film footage explore a range of themes -- including contrasts between urbanization and rural life in France, Germany and Scandinavia, the decline of the Ottoman Empire and its impact in Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Macedonia; and the grittiness of everyday life in Europe. kahn's pacifism is also a topic. 51 min. DVD X5709

The Soldiers' Story

As World War I engulfed his country, Albert Kahn struck a deal with the French army: his team of photographers would capture images and footage that helped the war effort in exchange for direct access to militarized zones. A century later, this program presents the results -- revealing the life and environment of the French soldier as recorded in Kahn's Archive of the Planet. The visual details of trench warfare and all its misery are combined with pictures from towns, hospitals , and barracks a few miles from the front -- evoking the humanity of the ordinary fighting man as well as the appalling devastation wrought by the era's instruments of death. 52 min. DVD X5710

The Civilians' Story: Albert Kahn's Archive of the Planet

In addition to documenting the Great War, Albert Kahn's team of photographers recorded the impact of the conflict on French civilian ife. This program explores both the propaganda value and the genuine emotional power in images of the war-torn French populace. French and Belgian refugees, ruined churches, and farms tended by women and the elderly are a few of the subjects rendered in exquisite and moving detail. Soissons smolders after a German retreat; Reims and its shattered cathedral hover on the edge of total destruction; and the Alsace region, Kahn's birthplace, regains its French identity. 52 min. DVD X5711

Europe After the Fire

Versailles, 1919: French banker Albert Kahn and his camera team are among the few photographers allowed inside the Hall of Mirrors for the treaty signing -- an example of Kahn's uncanny talent for documenting change. This program focuses on Kahn's pictorial record of the war's aftermath and the challenges of securing a true peace across Europe. Zeppelin-borne aerial footage conveys the scope of the destruction, while grave-digging and burial scenes evoke the staggering number of combatants killed. Other events and subjects include the influx of foreign workers that filled France's labor void; the French occupation of the Rhineland; German breadlines and Paris dance-halls; and war monuments in London and Verdun. 52 min. DVD X5712

Middle East, The Birth of Nations

No sooner had Europe declared an end to its Great War than the seeds of new conflict were sewn -- in the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. With typical global awareness, photography archivist Albert Khan chose to document the historic changes occurring in the colonial Middle East. This program traces his team's expeditions into Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine as Western powers redrew the map of the region. The French takeover of Syria, the Balfour Declaration, and Turkey's war with Greece come to life in Kahn’s street-level films and autochromes--which also serve as reminders that Jerusalem, like many other Middle East locations, suffered greatly during World War I. 52 min. DVD X5713

Far East, Expeditions to Empires

From 1914 through much of the 1920's, Albert Kahn's photographic team was hard at work in Asia, amassing culturally and historically vital images. This program recounts journeys through Indochina and greater Asia in which the Kahn team opened up a world most Europeans had never dreamed of. Viewers discover Vietnam through its beggars, Tet celebrants and elegantly dressed Mandarin administrators; Cambodia, through its dancers and the imposing Angkor City complex; Japan, through rapidly Westernizing homes, dress and hairstyles; and India, through pictures of the maharajahs and other authorities rendered powerless by British rule. 51 min. DVD X5714

The End of a World

As they built an unsurpassed visual archive of world culture, Albert Kahn and his photographers turned their attention to widely divergent locations. This program follows the maritime odyssey of Lucien Le Saint, circa 1922, as he captured on film the daily lives of Newfoundland cod fisherman, as well as expeditions into northwestern Africa. Images from Morocco and Tunisia focus on occupying French soldiers, the prostitutes they patronized, and larger changes in those societies, while pictures taken in Dahomey (now Benin) shed light on the symbiotic relationship between Catholocism and the Vodun religion. Viewers also learn about the Colonial Exhibition of 1931, Kahn's financial collapse, and the fate of his archive after his death in 1940. 51 min. DVD X5714

A young couple leave a lake campsite on motorbike at the same time as a bus full of youths. The boy accidently loses a tent along the road which is picked up by those in the bus who offer a trade of the tent for his girl. 15 min. Included on DVD 6605

Factory (Fabryka) (Poland, 1970)

Documentary revolving around the Polish situation on an industrial level at the tail-end of the 1960s: it alternates between stark images at a metallurgic foundry and a board-room meeting among the various executives involved in its management. 17 min. Included on DVD 6605

Hospital (Szpital) (Poland, 1976)

24 hours in the life of a hospital from the point of view of the doctors and nurses. 22 min. Included on DVD 6605

The Office (Urzad) (Poland, 1966)

"In an office processing pension applications, people wait. Clerks give instructions and explanations, finding fault with each document presented. People smoke, standing in line with papers in hand. A clerk sharpens a pencil methodically. Papers are stamped, further instructions given. Someone makes tea. The clerks take their break while people wait quietly. Papers have been stacked, sorted, placed in folders, and filed - row upon row, shelf upon shelf of files. Enervation is all. [IMDB] DVD 4185

Railway Station (Dworzec) (Poland, 1980)

This proved to be one of the director's last shorts which, again, follows the model of his previous efforts -- depicting the buzzing activity at a public place. 14 min. Included on DVD 6605

Talking heads(Gadajace glowy) (Poland, 1980)

In 1980, the late Krzysztof Kieslowski interviewed a number of ordinary Poles (born at various times over the preceding 100 years), asking them who they were and what they wanted from life. The results were assembled into this short film. What strikes one today, whether it is a sign of communist Poland at this time, or merely of Kieslowksi's own fascination with moral questions, is how sombre and serious most of the answers are: no-one says they want to sleep with a film star or make a quick million. It's also noticeable how similar the answers are, despite the great age difference of the participants. The best answer is fittingly the last one. [IMDB] 16 min. DVD 4182

A portrait of Robert and Dorothy DeBolt's family of 19 children -- including 14 adopted multiracial and/or physical handicapped children. The documentary focuses on their daily life with commentary by the children and parents about coping and family life skills. Based on the book 19 steps up the mountain by Joseph P. Blank. 1977. 72 min. DVD X6105; Video/C 9401

Documentation of the 1968 Police Chiefs Convention held in Hawaii where attention was focused on the means and weapons of crowd control in reaction to the youth, anti-war and other political movements whose protests were sweeping the country at that time, fortified with speeches denouncing these movements and shoring up morale in support of their own actions against them. Co-directed with Noel E. Parmentel Jr. 1968. DVD 8567

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

Drew Associates; producer, Gregory Shuker; film makers, Richard Leacock; James Lipscomb, D.A. Pennebaker, Hope Ryden.
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his brother, U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, forced one of the gravest racial confrontations of the 20th century. Despite a federal court order, Alabama Governor George Wallace vowed he would prevent two black students from entering the all-white University of Alabama. With a revolutionary new style of filmmaking using hand-held cameras, filmmaker Robert Drew and his four-team crew were at work recording the crisis as it unfolded, capturing the story from all sides up until its dramatic climax. 1963. 53 min. DVD 3067

Kennedy vs. Wallace

"Acclaimed documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back, The War Room) and Richard Leacock (Lulu in Berlin) were part of the team behind this amazing cinema verite account of the conflict between President Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace surrounding the admission of two black students to the all-white University of Alabama in June of 1963. Originally titled Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, the film has been updated to include the reactions of Vivian Malone, one of the students who enrolled, and former Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Produced by the trailblazing documentary unit Robert Drew & Associates." 1988. 60 min. [Facets catalog] Video/C 2876

Credits: Director, Robert J. Flaherty; screenplay, Robert and Frances Flaherty; photography, Richard Leacock; music, Virgil Thomson; editing, Helen Van Dongen. Dramatizes the coming of industrialization, in the form of oil exploration and drilling, to the Louisiana bayou as seen through the eyes of a Cajun boy living in Petit Anse Bayou. A lyrical tribute to the marshlands and cypress swamps of the bayou and the culture of the Cajun people. 1948. 79 min. DVD 1664; vhs Video/C 999:442

From his first film Ricky Leacock has been obsessed with capturing on film the feeling of "being there," which has led him to technological innovations and breakthrough films that fueled the emerging "direct cinema" movement. In this interview Leacock demonstrated super-8 sync technology and screened excerpts from his films Republicans: the new breed, Queen of Apollo, and rare footage of Indira Ghandi. Broadcast on the television program Screening room on June 15, 1973.
Interviewer: Robert Gardner. 64 min. DVD 4493

A Stravinsky Portrait.(1956)

A film by Richard Leacock and Rolf Liebermann. This exceptional, intimate film follows the great composer and conductor Igor Stavinsky at his home in California, in London and in Hamburg, where he conducts an orchestra rehearsal. Stravinsky emerges as more than a great artist, but as a warm and witty personality, as he converses with a variety of friends and musical collaborators. 58 min. Video/C 7334

A record of the trials of the Nazi leaders at Nuremberg, Germany. Includes scenes from films made by the Nazis which were presented as documentary evidence of the atrocities committed at the concentration camps. Video/C 133; also on Video/C MM470

The plow that broke the plains" depicts the social and economic history of the Great Plains from the settlement of the prairies by cattlemen and farmers through the World War I boom to drought and depression. A film by Pare Lorentz. Sponsored by the United States Resettlement Administration. 27 min. DVD 7298 (contains the original beginning and ending of The Plow that Broke the Plains); DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C 60

Presented by the Farm Security Administration with the cooperation of the Public Works Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps and the Army Engineers. Recorded at General Services Studios. A documentary story of the Mississippi River. Traces the history of the Mississippi and its tributaries; shows that the destruction of forests had led to erosion and the loss of soil, floods and the loss of lives and property. Emphasizes the need for conservation and rehabilitation. 32 min. DVD 7298; DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C 5060

A look at the birth of the motion picture through 85 of the more than 1,500 films made by the LumièreBrothers between 1895 and 1897. These films include views of Moscow, New York, Paris, Saigon, and Jerusalem, vignettes of life in France, and comedy shorts. 62 min. DVD 25; VHS tape 999:1678

In 1986, Louis Malle, himself a transplant to the United States, set out to investigate the ever widening range of immigrant experience in America. Interviewing a variety of newcomers (from teachers to astronauts to doctors) in middle- and working-class communities from coast to coast, Malle paints a generous, humane portrait of their individual struggles in an increasingly polyglot nation. Directed by Louis Malle. 1986. 81 min. DVD 7515

Calcutta

When he was cutting Phantom India, Louis Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so diverse, intense, and unforgettable that it deserved its own film. The result, released theatrically, is a chaotic portrait of a city racked with social and political turmoil. 1969. 99 min. DVD 7513; vhs Video/C 3602

God's Country

In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women of a prosperous farming community. He returned six years later, during Ronald Reagan's second term, to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America's heartland, God's Country, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity. 1985. 89 min. DVD 7514

Humain, trop humain (Human, too Human)

A meditative investigation of the inner workings of an auto assembly plant showing how steel sheeting becomes an automobile. Includes visits with the plant workers. Directed by Louis Malle. 1973. 72 min. DVD 7511

Phantom India (L'Inde fant?me)

Louis Malle called his gorgeous and ground breaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy. Directed by Louis Malle. 1969. 363 min. DVD 7512

Louis Malle stands on a street corner with his camera to capture an entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street in Paris. Directed by Louis Malle. 1974. 95 min. DVD 7511

Vive le tour

Documents the annual 20-day Tour de France bicycle race held each July. Covering the 1962 race this fast moving essay shows the racers' tension of competition, the physical stresses, the eating and drinking while in motion, the collisions and spills, and the enthusiasm of the spectators. 18 min. DVD 7511; vhs Video/C MM357

The "March of Time" newsreel series covered the news for motion picture audiences before television from 1935 to 1951. This documentary features interviews with its creative team who cover topics including reporting styles, logistical difficulties with big 35mm cameras and huge lights, the use of re-enactments, technical details for a "natural look", lack of zooms or panning, flat lighting, wide angle lens and distortion, the difference between "the truth of yesterday and the truth of today" and the influence of this newsreel series on today's television journalism.

Contents: Newsreel excerpts: Tour of the White House in Roosevelt-Landon election race -- Father Coughlin, formation of a National Union for Political Justice -- First nationwide radio broadcasts by a religious preacher -- New York City's Mayor LaGuardia -- Huey Long in Louisiana -- French Maginot Line before WWII -- Dominican Republic -- New England in 1940. 1974. 56 min. Video/C 5965

A day-by-day audio visual account of the group's first tour in the United States, including the Ed Sullivan appearances. Between the thirteen performances, the viewer joins the Beatles in their limos, hotel rooms and on their trips from New York to Washington, D.C. Includes documentary The making of the Beatles first U.S. visit (51 min.); commentary by Alfred Maysles. 1964. ca. 81 min. DVD 2284

Christo's Valley Curtain

Examines the construction of the Mammoth Valley curtain, a 500-foot-high veil stretched across Rifle Gap, Colo., by the Bulgarian artist Christo. Made of nine tons of orange nylon polymide fabric, the curtain stretched a full quarter-mile and was suspended from four steel cables 365 feet above the floor of the town. Directed by the Maysles brothers and Ellen Giffard. 1973. 28 min. Video/C 6299

Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center

Filmed over the course of twelve years, this program traces the building of the Getty Center, one of the most ambitious cultural undertakings of the twentieth century. The gathering of creative personalities needed to complete this monumental complex gave rise to conflict as well as consensus. Share the moments of success and frustration with architect Richard Meier, artist Robert Irwin, Fench architect Thierry Despont and others instrumental in its design. A film by Susan Froemke, Bob Eisenhardt and Albert Maysles. c2003. 100 min. DVD 4396; vhs Video/C MM1163

Direct Cinema

Writer-editor Jack Kroll interviews filmmakers Albert and David Maysles in 1969 about what they called at that time a "new technique of natural movie making, direct cinema." Conversation topics include how the Maysles actually filmed, how they got the subjects to agree to being filmed, and their reaction to being innovators. Program includes excerpts from their feature length film "The Salesman" in which they followed the salesmen around in an early example of "cinema verite." Originally produced as a two part episode for the television program, Camera Three. 52 min. Video/C 5966

Christo's Valley Curtain: Examines the construction of the Mammoth Valley curtain, a 500-foot-high orange veil stretched across Rifle Gap, Colo., by the Bulgarian artist Christo. Running fence: Follows the artist, Christo, through the concept, building and showing of a 24 mile long, 18 foot high fence of white fabric stretched across the hills of Sonoma and Marin Counties in California. 86 min. DVD 2632

Islands: Documentary of Christo's project to surround eleven islands in Biscayne Bay for two weeks in a pink plastic fabric. Includes footage of two other projects, the Pont Neuf and the Reichstag. Christo in Paris: Follows Christo through the building and showing of his most personally favored work, the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris. DVD 2633

Umbrellas: Thousands of umbrellas are installed and then simultaneously opened in a rice-farming valley in Japan and across a cluster of cattle ranches in Southern California. Interview: Presents a candid discussion and reminiscences by Christo, Jeane-Claude and Albert Maysles about their artistic installations and the challenges of filming the events. DVD 2634

The Gates

Starting with an original attempt in 1979, this film documents the ambitions, planning, and ultimate achievement of Christo's project to install a series of cloth-hung gates in Central Park. The film follows the artists Christo and Jeanne Claude and they navigate through various meetings, arguments, facing an opposing host of city officials, private representatives, artists, and citizens. Over 20 years later the artists fulfill their hope of creating a shared artwork for the community, the camera capturing the ultimate result and public reactions. Special features: "About the gates" history of the work (3 min.); "Antonio Ferrera" director's bio (3 min.); "Albert Maysles" director's bio (5 min.); "Christo and Jeanne Claude" artist's bio (4 min.). Directed by Antonio Ferrera, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Matthew Prinzing. 2007. 98 min. DVD X1895

Directors, David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin. Contents: The Rolling Stones: Jumping jack flash -- (I can't get no) Satisfaction -- You gotta move -- Wild horses -- Brown sugar -- Love in vain. Tina Turner: I've been loving you too long. The Rolling Stones: Honky tonk women -- Street fighting man. The Flying Burrito Bros.: Six days on the road. Jefferson Airplane: The other side of this life. The Rolling Stones: Sympathy for the devil -- Under my thumb -- Street fighting man -- Gimme shelter. A documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of the United States, focusing on a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in California where a young man was killed during violence between the crowd and the Hell's Angels hired to "keep order." Includes performances by Ike and Tina Turner, the Flying Burrito Bros., and the Jefferson Airplane. 90 min. DVD 394; vhs Video/C 4690

Grey Gardens captures the haunting relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie. These two endearing recluses happen to be aunt and first cousin to Jackie Onassis. In this biographical film they feed cats and racoons while they rehash the past behind the walls of the East Hampton mansion. 94 min. DVD 799; vhs Video/C 2478

East Hampton, the mid-1970's: documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles set up camp in a decrepit mansion known as Grey Gardens, where the eccentric Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale live amid piles of trash and mounds of cats. The film becomes an instant cult classic. After Grey Gardens spawned everything from a midnight-movie cult following to a Broadway musical to an upcoming Hollywood adaptation, the filmmakers went back to their vaults to create this tribute to both the Beale women and their legion of fans. Contents: "You Ought To Be In Pictures" -- No one can play Edith Beale -- Little Edie's past -- Big Edie takes a picture -- "Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree" -- Horoscopes -- Jerry Torre -- "V.M.I. march" (The first listen) -- Cats -- Lois Wright -- Fire -- "Spring Will Be a Little Late" -- "Around the World in 80 Days" -- Big Edie's poetry recital -- Flirtation ("Hot or Sweet") -- Religion -- Politics and war -- Beach -- "If I Loved You" -- Fashion show -- Last reel -- Another winter -- Color bars. 91 min. DVD X2940

Montparnasse et Levallois /Jean-Luc Godard

A film by Albert Maysles. Included on anthology film, Six in Paris DVD X399; Video/C 999:3228

Muhammad and Larry

Filmmaker Albert Maysles explores the unique and poignant relationship between two great boxers and two remarkable men who were more than just competitors. They were once teacher and student, and remain close friends. Combines archival footage with newly-produced reflective conversations with boxing experts and those who were at the fight. Maysles intimately documented both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, from sparring matches to private moments at home, as they prepared for their upcoming fight in 1980, revealing the connection that evolved, inside and out of the ring, between these two amazing athletes. Disc 1: Documentary (52 min.) plus bonus features: director's statements; 11 interview extras -- Disc 2. Bonus features: ESPN pre- & post fight coverage, including Howard Cosell's interview with Ali & Holmes. Directed by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan. 2009. 52 min. DVD X2987; DVD X5736

Directors, David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin. Follows the artist, Christo, through the concept, building, and showing of his objet d'art; a 24 mile long, 18 foot high fence of white fabric stretched across the hills of California. The project was conceived as a work of art for Sonoma and Marin counties and took nearly four years to complete. Once finished and after a period of time, the fence was taken down and the materials were given to the people whose land the fence was built on. 59 min. Video/C 2970

A film by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin. A documentary feature film in cinema verite style which closely follows the activities of four door-to-door Bible salesmen on their routes. 90 min. DVD 817; Video/C 1880

Documentary of the art project, The Umbrellas, a joint artistic venture between Japan and the United States. Follows the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude from the planning stages to completion day of their joint-venture, set in a rice-farming valley in Japan and cattle ranches in the rolling hills of Southern California. A film by Henry Corra, Grahame Weinbren and Albert Maysles. 1995. 81 min. Video/C 6322

An award-winning documentary filmed on the streets of Harlem in the late 1940's which shows the devasting psychological effects of life in the ghetto on a ten-year old boy named Donald. Abandoned by his parents, Donald lives a quiet life of despair until he is sent to Wiltwyck School for Boys for psychiatric care. 65 min. Video/C 6502

Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon

The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon

Over a century ago, filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon roamed England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales filming the everyday lives of people at work and at play. Their films begin with the bustling streets at home in Britain and the controversial war abroad and move on to show the British workers at leisure and enjoying sports. Presents the first ever crime reconstruction film and finally the success of Mitchell and Kenyon in the U.S. and the ultimate demise of their partnership. 176 min. DVD 3603

Luc Moullet

Anatomy of a Relationship (Anatomie d'un rapport)

A daring, delirious dissection of the dilemmas of two intellectuals who can't quite make their sex life work. Director Luc Moullet plays a movie director who is having a hard time making ends meet and is also having a hard time satisfying his wife. In the film, they fight and talk, make up, talk and fight. A fearless confessional film based on his own relationship with his wife. 1975. 79 min. DVD 7686

Genesis of a Meal (Genèse d'un repas)

In this documentary Moullet investigates the sources for the foods he is eating at the outset of the film: tuna and bananas. When he investigates the French labels on his tuna, he discovers that the fish were actually caught in Senegal, and his bananas came from Ecuador. The people who caught the fish and the growers of the bananas are interviewed, and their economic hardships are clearly underscored. Produced, written and directed by Luc Moullet. 1978. 112 min. DVD 7686

National Film Board of Canada

For other National Film Board productions in the Media Resources Center, consult OskiCat or MELVYL

The second of five segments exploring films produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The first film is a profile of a switchman, an eloquent portrait of a Canadian immigrant laborer. The second film is a nostalgic recollection of the Klondike gold rush. The third film is a cinema verite classic which looks behind the scenes of the life of the teen idol, Paul Anka. The final film is a documentary by Canadian filmakers visiting Cuba who discuss the Cuba of the early 1970's. DVD X2089 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 4661

The third of five segments exploring films produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The first film is an experiment in using video and television to stimulate social action in a poverty-stricken district of Montreal. The second film chronicles the odyssey of two women who explore the world of pornography. The third presentation is built around a lecture by the Australian pediatrician and nuclear critic Dr. Helen Caldicott who warns that nuclear disarmament must not be postponed. DVD X2090 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 4662

The National Film Board of Canada: A History. 4, French film Production at the NFB.

The fourth of five segments exploring films produced at the National Film Board of Canada. These three French language films are examples of the films produced by the French Film unit of the NFB. The first film features the International Snowshoe Congress in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The second work of pinscreen animation is about an artist who steps inside his painting to wander about the landscape. The last film is the coming of age story of a young boy who lives in the asbestos mining region of Quebec. DVD X2091 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 4663

The National Film Board of Canada: A History. 5, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: the NFB at 50 Plus.

The last of five segments exploring films produced by the National Film Board of Canada. These four films mirror the concerns of the Nineties from a Canadian perspective continuing the Film Board's long tradition of working in the public interest. The first film is a documentary highlighting 50 years of film production by the Film Board. The second is a drama concerning seven elderly women who band together for survival when their bus breaks down in rural Quebec. The next film recounts the experiences of Canadian lesbian women in the 1950's and 60's intertwining their histories with a fictional love story. The final film is a personal documentary concerning the devastating discrimination against Japanese in Canada during World War II. DVD X2092 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 4664

The National Film Board of Canada: A History. Vol. 1: Animation. Video/C 4660

Documentary about the escalation and diversity of the anti-Vietnam War protest movement on the homefront. Includes conversations with Vietnam vets, teenagers, and Afro-American militants. Graphically depicts the hightened incidents of mass protest and police repression. Originally produced as a documentary film in 1969. 33 min. Video/C 5854

Columbia Revolt, 1968

Newsreel footage, with commentary by participants, of the student protests and riots at Columbia University in 1968. 50 min. DVD 4460; DVD 3723; vhs Video/C 5853

Mayday

Newsreel footage of a public Black Panther demonstration held on May 1, 1969 in honor of Huey Newton. 14 min. Video/C 5855

No Game: (Pentagon, 1967)

Newsreel footage of an October 10, 1967 demonstration for peace against the war in Vietnam. Includes interviews with protesters who refused Selective Service. Produced and directed by Masanori Oe, Marvin Fishman, Jonathan Chernoble. 17 min. Video/C 5858

Off the Pig

Originally produced in the 1960s. Interviews: Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis.
Documentary footage of members of the Black Panther Party talking about police brutality and strategies for Blacks to liberate themselves. Film concludes with art works by Afro-American protest artist, Emory Douglas. 15 min. Video/C 5852

People's Park

Originally produced in the early l970's. A documentary giving the history of the People's Park conflict and protests with emphasis on the role played by the University of California in the conflict. 23 min. DVD 4131 [preservation copy]; Video/C 5860

People's War

This film was shot ... in the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, July-August 1969, with the cooperation of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries."--
Documentary filmed in North Vietnam during 1969 presenting the Vietnam Conflict from the viewpoint of the North Vietnamese. Includes interviews with North Vietnamese civilians and soldiers. 39 min. Video/C 5859

El Pueblo se Levanta

A hard-hitting documentary of the poverty and oppression in a New York City Puerto Rican community. Depicts the confrontations that occurred as a self help community group, the Young Lords, attempted to improve the conditions. Originally produced in 1970.
Video/C 5857

Richmond Oil Strike

Documentary of the Richmond oil strike commencing January 4, 1969 with newsreel coverage of events surrounding the strike and interviews with employees on strike against Shell Oil in Martinez and Standard Oil in Richmond, California. Originally produced in 1969. 17 min. Video/C 5861

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

A guerrilla theater piece on the role of women, performed at an abortion rally in New York City in 1969. In the skit a beauty contestant is pressured to fulfill certain roles in order to be the "ideal woman." The women who perform also discuss their personal lives and how their struggle as women is expressed in the skit. 1969. 17 min. Video/C MM392

Los Siete de la Raza

Originally produced in the 1960s. Newsreel footage of interviews with Mexican American immigrants to the Mission District of San Francisco in which they express their social and economic struggles and the discrimination they experience. Film examines the creation of Los Siete de la Raza, a self-help political organization organized to fight for the rights of "Brown people." 33 min. Video/C 5856

Candid interviews with American women who describe their preconceptions about marriage contrasted with the realities of marriage, their husband's expectations concerning their roles as wives, and experiences of child rearing and employment inside and outside the home. Originally produced in 1971. 41 min. Video/C 5862

A documentary account of the front line medicine practiced under Dr. Norman Bethune and volunteer medical personnel during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939.) Their work with 'blood banks,' transfusion and field surgery laid the groundwork for further medical advances in later years. 1933. Material scenarized and edited by Paul Strand, Leo Hurwitz. Frontier Films. 1937. 33 min. DVD X336

Several years in the making and defiantly outspoken, this film stands as one of the most influential accomplishments of the collective of left-wing artist known as Frontier Films. Combining documentary form with staged reenactments, they created a treatise on the struggle for human rights in the 1930s couched in the doctrines of the political left. The film presents an emotional tour of the U.S. and its freedom-based ideologies, as well as an unflinching look at the forces threatening to undermine its strengths from within: Greedy capitalists, professional strikebreakers, and the Ku Klux Klan. 88 min. DVD 7283 (Criterion); DVD 4669; also VHS Video/C 7026

Klaus Barbie was a Nazi war criminal who escaped and remained hidden for 40 years. This Academy Award winning documentary traces the 40-year hunt for Barbie which ended when he was brought to trial in 1987. 267 min. DVD X5564 ; Video/C 1558

A documentary examining the occupation of France by the Germans during World War II using reminiscences and interviews of individuals and officials involved in the events at the time. Concentrates on the themes of collaboration and resistance and shows antisemitism through stark, moving newsreel footage. 260 min. DVD 672; Video/C 4280 (Part 1-2)

Early poetic pioneer of science films, Painleve explored a twilight realm of vampire bats, seahorses, octopi and liquid crystals. Painleve made more than 200 science and nature films and was an early champion of the genre. This 2-disc collection brings Yo La Tengo's score together with the films of Painleve for the first time on videodisc.
Contents: Disc 1(120 min.): Acera or The witches' dance (1972) -- The love life of the octopus (1965) -- How some jellyfish are born (1960) -- Liquid crystals (1978) -- The seahorse (1934) -- Shrimp stories (1964) -- Hyas and stenorhynchus (1929) -- Methuselah (1927) -- Sea urchins (1954) -- The vampire (1945) -- Blue beard (1938). -- Disc 2 (95 min.): Yo la Tengo : the sounds of science.
Special features: Introduction by Dr Michael Abecassis -- Two short films by Percy Smith: The birth of a flower (1910) and The strength and agility of insects (1911) -- A short film by Adrian Klein: Colour on the Thames (1935). 215 min. DVD 8458

Pennebaker's first film. "I wanted to make a film about this filthy, noisy train and it?s packed-in passengers that would look beautiful, like the New York City paintings of John Sloan, and I wanted it to go with one of my Duke Ellington records, "Daybreak Express."
I didn't know much about film editing, or in fact about shooting, so I bought a couple of rolls of Kodachrome at the drugstore, and figured that since the record was about three minutes long, by shooting carefully I could fit the whole thing onto one roll of film. Of course that didn't work since I couldn?t start and stop my hand-wound camera that easily so I ended up shooting both rolls and even a few more before I was through. It took about three days to film, and then sat in a closet for several years until I figured out how to edit it and make a print that I could show on a projector." [D.A. Pennebaker]. 1953. 5 min. DVD 3608

Don't Look Back.

A film by D.A. Pennebaker. Disc 1: Bob Dylan: Don't look back -- Disc 2: Bob Dylan: 65 revisited.
Performers, Bob Dylan, Albert Grossman, Bob Neuwirth, Joan Baez, Alan Price.
Portrait of the artist as a young man. In spring, 1965, Bob Dylan a 23 year-old, pixyish troubador, spent three weeks in England. Follows him from airport to hall, from hotel room to public house, from conversation to concert. Joan Baez and Donovan, among others, are on hand. It's the period when Dylan is shifting from acoustic to electric, a transition that not all fans, including Baez, applaud. From the opening sequence Dylan is playful and enigmatic. Special features: Disc 1: Commentary by director D.A. Pennebaker and tour road manager Bob Neuwirth; five additional uncut audio tracks; alternate version of the "Subterranean homesick blues" cue-card sequence; original theatrical trailer; D.A. Pennebaker filmography; Bob Dylan discography; cast and crew biographies; Disc 2: Bob Dylan: 65 revisited: A new work compiled by D.A. Pennebaker from over 20 hours of never-before-seen footage; commentary by director D.A. Pennebaker and tour road manager Bob Neuwirth. The companion book includes a complete transcription of the film, over 200 photos, and a new forward by D.A. Pennebaker.
DVD 7503 [includes special feature disc]; DVD 447 [without special features]; also on vhs Video/C 3122

"Acclaimed documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back, The War Room) and Richard Leacock (Lulu in Berlin) were part of the team behind this amazing cinema verite account of the conflict between President Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace surrounding the admission of two black students to the all-white University of Alabama in June of 1963. Originally titled Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, the film has been updated to include the reactions of Vivian Malone, one of the students who enrolled, and former Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Produced by the trailblazing documentary unit Robert Drew & Associates." 1988. 60 min. [Facets catalog] Video/C 2876

A film by D.A. Pennebaker. Big Brother & the Holding Company, John Phillips, Joe McDonald, Eric Burdon, Mamas and the Papas, Canned Heat, Simon and Garfunkel, Hugh Masekela, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Animals, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, The Who, Country Joe and the Fish. The definitive document of the first great rock festival", a filmed record of the Monterey International Pop Festival, held in June, 1967. DVD contains special features: Outtake performances by The Association, Big Brother, and the Holding Company, The Blues Project, Buffalo Springfield, The Paul Butterfied Blues Band, The Byrds, Country Joe and the Fish, The Electric flag, Jefferson Airplane, Al Kooper, The Mamas and the Papas, Laura Nyro, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Simon and Garfunkel, Tiny Tim, and the Who; audio commentaries: Festival producer Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker on Monterey Pop; music critic Charles Shaar Murray on Jimi Plays Monterey; music critic Peter Guralnick on Shake! Otis at Monterey; new video interview with Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker on the beginnings of the Festival and the making of the film; new video interview with Phil Walden, manager of Otis Redding from 1959 to 1967; audio interviews with Festival producer Joh Phillips, Festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot and David Crosby; photo essay, Monterey Pop scrapbook, Theatrical trailers and radio spots. 98 min. DVD 1475; also on VHS Video/C 5338

A film by D.A. Pennebaker and by Chris Hegedus. A no-holds barred, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Broadway comedy Moon over Buffalo starring the legendary Carol Burnett. Line-flubbing, back-stabbing, door slamming, scenery-breaking, fights, fits, feuds -- all captured here in an incredible fly-on-the-wall view of what really goes down before the curtain comes up. 1997. 100 min. DVD X4399; Video/C 8235

A chronicle of the recording session of the cast album of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy, Company. Over the course of a grueling 18 1/2 hour session, acclaimed filmmker D. A. Pennebaker with Jim Desmond and Richard Leacock, captured the stress, the frustration, the exhilaration and ultimate success of the creative process. Special features: Commentary from Harold Prince, Elaine Stritch, D.A. Pennebaker; additional music track "Have I got a girl for you" from the original cast recording session; photo gallery from original Broadway performance accompanies music track; filmmaker biography.
58 min. DVD 3112

On the evening of April 30, 1971, a standing room only audience of local literati and feminists packed New York City's Town Hall to watch Norman Mailer, who had just written 'The Prisoner of Sex, ' grapple with a panel of passionate feminists ... among them Jill Johnston, Diana Trilling, Jacqueline Ceballos and Germaine Greer. The event turned from mere intellectual debate to ferocious theater as verbal blows flew engaging the participants and the audience for three and a half hours. With Norman Mailer, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, Diana Trilling, Jacqueline Ceballos. Photographers, Jim Desmond, D.A. Pennebaker, Mark Woodcock ; editor, Chris Hegedus. 85 min. DVD X5438

The War Room (1993)

Documentary about the Clinton presidential campaign, from the New Hampshire primary to the victory party 10 months later. At the center are the two men most responsible for Clinton's victory--James Carville, the campaign manager, and George Stephanopoulos, the communications director. This is a compelling portrait of these two men as they successfully masterminded strategies for such events as the Democratic National Convention, the debates with Bush and Perot and the election itself. 1994. 96 min. DVD 1430; also VHS Video/C 4030

The Woodstock diary is an enthralling "Fly on the wall" documentary about the creation of Woodstock and of the actual three-day event itself. Directed by D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. 180 min. DVD X3015

A film by Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault. A filmed account, day by day, of the uprising of Acadian students in 1968/69 at the University of Moncton, in search of the right to speak French at the University and in Moncton. 1971. 118 min. DVD 5869

Le beau plaisir (The Beautiful Delight)

Le beau plaisir: Shot in 35 mm colour, this film invites the viewer on a beluga whale hunt. We see the clever techniques the islanders use to trap the animals, as well as their delight when they succeed in capturing one of these wily marine mammals.
Pierre Perrault speaks of Ile-aux-Coudres: In this exclusive interview a few months before his death, Pierre Perrault talks with characteristic passion about his early career, his discovery of the Charlevoix region, his radio work and shooting the films of the region.
Pierre Perrault vu par... Exclusive interviews with Bernard Gosselin, Michel Brault, Marcel Carri?ere, Martin Leclerc, Monique Fortier, Serge Beauchemin and Suzanne Allard. These renowned artisans of direct cinema and close collaborators of Perrault talk about the role they played in his "cinema of the spoken word." 1968. 14 min. DVD 8774

Pour la suite du monde (For the Ones to Come)

The customs and beliefs of the inhabitants of L'Ile-aux-Coudres, a small island in the St. Lawrence, are revealed when some oldtimers revive the long-abandoned practice of trapping white Beluga whales. 1968. 105 min. DVD 8774; also included on DVD 5869

Quebec farmer, Alexis Tremblay, and his wife and son go to Perche, France in the search of his ancestors. In Tourouvre, he sets foot on the grounds of La Filonni?ere, the ancestral farm of the Tremblays, and holds in his hands the marriage contract of Philibert, "which established the name of New France for said country." This film does not contain any fictitious elements. The parallel structure emphasizes the resemblances and the differences which exist between Perche and Quebec. 1967. 118 min. DVD 8774

Les Voitures d'eau (River Schooners)

Through their anecdotes and their actions, the artisans of Ile-aux-Coudres tell us about the science of wooden boats at a time when iron ships are invading the St. Lawrence River. After a disastrous boating season, the filmmaker questions the economic and political future of an entire culture. This last film of the trilogy witnesses the end of the era of wooden schooners and of the men who knew how to build and pilot them. 1968. 110 min. DVD 8774

Photographic chronicle of the Scott expedition to the South Pole showing the original 60 member team through the various stages until the final 150 mile attempt by 5 men after leaving the last supporting party. Includes informative record of equipment, orienteering, natural phenomena, animal life, and weather conditions. Severe storms plaqued the exploring party, who suffered from snow blindness, frostbite, injuries, and finally lack of food. Photography from the Scott expedition made into a film by Herbert Ponting in 1924 entitled The Great white silence. In 1933, this film was issued with the addition of sound and an introduction and commentary by Ponting. The British National Film Archive restored the film in 1992. 70 min. DVD 2853

Co-directed with Robert Hessens. On April 26 1937 the small Basque town of Guernica was bombed without warning by the German aviation. Two thousand people, all civilians, got killed. Like millions all over the world, Pablo Picasso was shocked and he translated his emotion into a magnificent but terrifying picture bearing the name of the martyred city. This film does not only comment on the painting, it also gives it a new life through frantic camera and sound effects. DVD X96 13 min.

Credits: Producer, Edouard Muszka; consultants, Olga Wormser, Henri Michel; narrative, Jean Cayrol; English version, Alexander Allan. Ten years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, this piece documents the abandoned grounds of Auschwitz and Majdanek. One of the first cinematic reflections on the horrors of the Holocaust, the film contrasts the stillness of the abandoned camps' quiet, empty buildings with haunting wartime footage. DVD Special features: Excerpt from interview with Alan Resnais; optional isolated music track; new essay about the film by Phillip Lopate; essay about composer Hanns Eisler by Russell Lack; crew profiles written by film historian Peter Cowie. 32 min. DVD 1678; also on VHS Video/C 2251

Alain Resnais' dramatic look at the Bibliotheque nationale in Paris. He presents the building, with its processes of cataloging and preserving all sorts of printed material, as both a monument of cultural memory and as an alien and terrifying place. 1956. 20 min. DVD 4210

Videocassette release of the 1936-1938 documentary by Leni Riefenstahl-Produktion. After being commissioned by the 1936 Olympic committee to create a feature film of the Berlin Olympics, Riefenstahl made a film that celebrates the human body by combining the poetry of bodies in motion with close-ups of athletes in the heat of competition. Part I, "The Festival of the People," includes the carrying of the flame from Greece, the lighting of the torch and the track-and-field events where American runner Jessie Owens won an unprecedented four gold medals. 119 min. DVD 3681; also vhs Video/C 5432

Includes field hockey, polo, soccer, aquatic, bicycling, sailing and rowing events as well as the marathon race and the thrilling decathlon where American Glen Morris won the title of the greatest all-around athlete in the world. 96 min. DVD 3681; also vhs Video/C 5433

A film commissioned by Adolph Hitler as the official record of the Nuremberg Party Rally of 1934. Produced as an important piece of political propaganda to introduce the new German leaders to the nation and to impress foreign audiences. 110 min. 110 min. (German, no subtitles) Video/C 5429;
122 min. (English subtitles) DVD 711; Video/C 5428

Leni Riefenstahl explains her life and work, from her start as a German actress in the 1920's, through her career as a film director producing such films as Triumph of the will and Olympia. Includes film clips from her work. Originally produced in 1972 as two episodes in the television program Camera Three. 56 min. Video/C 4613

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

Director/writer, Ray Muller. Interviews with Leni Riefenstahl, now in her nineties, flash-backs and modern film sequences tell the story of the most famous woman film director of all time. Known for her films made during the Third Reich, Riefenstahl's story is a controversial one. Best known for her "Triumph of the Will," the film made of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress, it proved to be her undoing. 1993. 181 min. DVD 176; Video/C 3411 Pt. 1-2

Contents: Disc 1. On the Bowery (1956, 65 min.) -- Martin Scorcese introduction. -- The perfect team : The making of On the Bowery / directed by Martin Rogosin. -- A Walk through the Bowery / directed by Michael Rogosin. -- Bowery Men's Shelter (1972) / directed by Rhody Streeter and Tony Ganz. -- Street of forgotten men (1933). -- On the Bowery theatrical trailer .
Disc 2. Good times, wonderful times (1964, 69 min.) -- Out (1957, 25 min.). -- Man's peril : the making of Good times, wonderful times / directed by Michael Rogosi and Lloyd Ross.

On the Bowery: A mix of documentary and scripted footage on the Bowery, New York City's skid row. Set against a backdrop of men drinking in bars, talking and arguing, and sleeping on sidewalks. the film chronicles three days in the life of Ray Salyer. The film jump-started the post-war American independent film movement, earning an Oscar nomination.
Good times, wonderful times: Inspired by a deep sense of the danger of nuclear annihilation and the horrors of war, the filmmaker traveled the world to gather rare undiscovered footage in the early 1960s. Brilliantly contrasting these images in all their brute horror with a posh dinner party in London, it is a powerful orchestration of moral issues that leaves each viewer face to face with his own responsibilities.
Out: A short film produced by the United Nations Film Board on the plight of the refugees fleeing to Austria as a result of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
DVD X7084

Come Back Africa

A documentary-style film which tells the story of Zacariah, a Zulu, who must go to work in the gold mines near Johannesburg after having been forced off his land by the government. Featuring Miriam Makeba; Vinah Makeba; Zachria Makeba; Molly Parkin. Directed by Lionel Rogosin. 1959. 82 min. DVD X4117; vhs Video/C 4009

Good Times, Wonderful times

A semi-documentary on the senseless brutality of war and the folly of rationalized indifference to human suffering. Unscripted chatter on sex, war and politics at a London cocktail party is intercut with scenes from World War I and World War II footage, including the Warsaw ghetto, concentration camps, the training of Hitler Youth and Hiroshima. 1965. 67 min. DVD X7084; DVD X4117

On the Bowery (1956)

A documentary film of men living on the Bowery. Depicts life inside the bars and on the sidewalks, the alcoholism and unemployment and life on the streets. 1956. 65 min. DVD X7084; DVD X4118; Video/C 1872

Showing how the balance of trade between imports and exports is maintained in the U.K. Ends with a speech by Sir Stafford Cripps. 9 min. DVD X1229

Land of Promise (1946)

A look at past responses to housing crises in Britain, with a plea for a different approach to meet the demands of troops and families returning after the war. [ScreenOnline] 63 min. DVD X1229

People of Britain(1936)

Propaganda urging people to band together and work for peace. "...[A] punchy three-minute cine-poster, often known simply as 'the peace film', partially funded by the ascetic left MP, Stafford Cripps. It combines music by Benjamin Britten in interplay with bold captions, a variety of voices, four 'vox-pops' and (mainly library) footage to put across its message, to "demand peace by reason", by writing to your MP." [ScreenOnline] 3 min. DVD X1229

Shipyard (1935)

"...About the building of a liner [the S.S. Orion] at Barrow-in-Furness. One of the first documentaries with a strong social conscience, Shipyard illustrates the social impact of shipbuilding on the depressed local economy. It also demonstrated the difference between Grierson's realist documentary tradition and Rotha's more socio-political filmmaking..." [ScreenOnline] 24 min. DVD X1229

" Paris. The summer of 1960. While war rages in Algeria and pre-independence Congo seethes with violence, ethnographic filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin send two women out into the streets of the city to interview passersby.
Rouch, whose previous groundbreaking films were shot in Africa, and Morin, an academic and writer, were experimenting with a new kind of documentary film about their own society that would reveal the innermost truth of peoples' lives.
From a simple starting question - Are you happy, sir? - CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER delves deeper and deeper into the lives of its characters. They include Marceline, a Holocaust survivor; Angelo, who works grueling shifts in a Renault factory; Landry, a student from the Ivory Coast; and Marilou, a young, beautiful and deeply depressed Italian immigrant. As the film progresses, the light opening scenes give way to intimate revelations and hotly contested political arguments.
CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER is a true landmark in film history. Rouch and Morin were among the first filmmakers to use hand held sync sound 16mm equipment. They also coined the term cinema verite to describe their approach, although their practice, placing people in situations and provoking responses, differs from what later came to be called verite films. Their use of the urban landscape and groundbreaking cinematography (cameraman Raoul Coutard was among the crew members working on the film) deeply affected the French New Wave and much of subsequent documentary practice. The film's self-reflexive structure, in which Rouch and Morin screen the film for the participants to critique it on-screen, as well as their own reactions to the critique, is still, amazingly, contemporary." [FRIF website] 90 min. Video/C 3420

Conversations with Jean Rouch

This intimate revealing film of conversations between Jean Rouch and a number of filmmakers and friends, including John Marshall and Colin Young, is unlike any past films on Rouch's life and work. It was shot over a three year period from 1978-1980 by his friend, Ann McIntosh, who followed Rouch to France three times, gaining access that no other film biographer has had. A film by Ann McIntosh. 36 min. DVD 9753

A documentary of three men from Niger who leave Niger to seek wealth and adventure in the coastal cities of Ghana then called the Gold Coast. Film portrays conditions that existed in West Africa in the 1950's when it was possible to travel freely and there was an exhilarating sense of opportunity in the air. In French with English subtitles. Originally issued as a motion picture in the early 1950's. 93 min. Video/C 3459

Jean Rouch

Interview of Jean Rouch by Robert Gardner. As a filmmaker, Rouch left a legacy of more than 120 films. His half century of ethnographic filmmaking in Africa distinguished him as a master of the documentary form. Jean Rouch appeared on Screening Room in July 1980 and screened Les Maitres Fous as well as several film excerpts including Rhythm of Work and Death of a Priest. Originally broadcast in 1980. 64 min. DVD 4491

This program provides an in-depth look at the film work of Jean Rouch and his associates from Niger who participated in production of many of Rouch's Niger-based films. Rouch, Philo Bregstein and Niger cameramen discuss filmmaking and filmmakers who have had historical influence in the field. Segments from several of Rouch's earlier film works are interspersed with the filming in Niger and interviews. 1978. 74 min. Video/C 9202

A rare and insightful portrait of Eric Rohmer, one of cinema's most enduring filmmakers and patriarch of the French New Wave. Supplemented by film clips, screen tests and snippets of audio dialogue from his films, Rohmer elaborates on the technical, philosophical and aesthetic aspects of film and filmmaking. 1994. 116 min. Video/C 9290

Lion Hunters (La Chasse au Lion a l'arc)

An ethnographic study which follows a band of Niger hunters from the elaborate preparations for lion hunting through the actual kill. Lion hunting is reserved by tradition to the Gao, a group of professional hunters, masters of the techniques and rituals of poison-making. The film describes the intricacies of brewing the poison for the arrows and discusses the passion of the kill. 68 min. DVD 3911 (French without English subtitles); Video/C 9740

Les Maitres fous (1954)

This film documents the Haouka cult, a religious movement which was widespread in Niger and Ghana from the 1920's to the 1950's. Shows them living and working in Accra and participating in a primitive tribal ceremony. Originally produced as a documentary in 1954. 29 min. Video/C 3460; also on DVD 3911 (without English subtitles)

Rouch in Reverse

French ethnologist/filmmaker, Jean Rouch discusses his work with Manthia Diawara. Includes a cross-section of Rouch's work with clips from his documentary Les Maitres Fous, his cinema verite classic, Chronique D'ete, and his pioneering masterpiece Moi, Un Noir (Treichville). Throughout the interview Diawara places Rouch's films in the context of the on-going struggle of Africans to construct their own vision of modernity. 51 min. Video/C 4484

Rouch's Gang (De bende van Rouch)

Follows the film crew of "Madame l'Eau" and provides a glimpse behind the scenes as director Jean Rouch and his four friends from Niger make their film. This outsider's view of "Madame l'Eau" provides insight into how Rouch approaches his films. In most of his films, Jean Rouch has used his four African friends; Damoure Zika, Lam Ibrahim Dia and Tallou Mouzourane as actors and Moussa Hamidou as sound man. Rouch has been their friend for more than forty years and this complex bond of friendship serves as the theme for this documentary. 1998. 70 min. Video/C 6566

A cross section of life in Berlin from dawn to midnight on a late spring day. Uses montage, cutting, and editing to capture the pulse and tempo of this city. 62 min. DVD X759; DVD 64; VHS 999:307; 999:2581

"With remarkable historic footage and radical editing, this film stands as a colossal documentary portrait of the collapse of the Czarist regime and the triumphant rise of communist rule. Director Shub, a pioneer in editing and mentor to Sergei Eisenstein (influencing his montage theories), unearthed thousands of films--including personal footage by the Czar's own cameramen--to bring to life a daring and innovative historical drama of the events from 1912 to 1917." [Facets catalog] 78 min. DVD X6865; DVD X2814 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3769; Video/C MM479

Credits: original outline, Pare Lorentz; scenario, Henwar Rodakiewicz; commentary, Lewis Mumford; music, Aaron Copland; film editor, Theodore Lawrence.
Dramatizes the transformation of the United States from a country of small towns to a highly urbanized and industrialized society. Originally shown at the 1939 World's Fair, this classic documentary film comments on four types of cities: the New England town, the unplanned industrial community, a crowded metropolis and the decentralized community. Contents: The City (1939, 43 min.) -- Which playground for your child : greenbelt or gutter?" : a documentary from the Greenbelt Museum featuring interviews with three Greenbelt "pioneers" (2000, ca. 15 min.) -- George Stoney in conversation with Joseph Horowitz : a legendary documentary film-maker revisits The City (2007, 29 min.)Produced by American Institute of Planning through Civic Films, Inc. ; produced by American Documentary Films, Inc. ; directed and photographed by Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke. 44 min. DVD X2827; vhs Video/C 4969

"The first half is a look at water rushing, pouring from a pipe, spouting, falling, moving, and churning. The second half presents reflections, particularly how patterns appear in water as it is moved by breezes or other small forces. Wavy lines appear on the surface as if dividing the frame; swirls, too, do the same, bringing animation to the images. Donald Sosin's piano adds an airy quality to the images." [IMDB] 13 min. DVD 4191

Directed and photographed by Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler. A silent avant-garde short film about New York seen in terms of its geometric architecture and the movement patterns of ships and people. Based on a poem by Walt Whitman. 1921. 10 min. Included on DVD 2840; DVD 4670; DVD 4191

Several years in the making and defiantly outspoken, this film stands as one of the most influential accomplishments of the collective of left-wing artist known as Frontier Films. Combining documentary form with staged reenactments, they created a treatise on the struggle for human rights in the 1930s couched in the doctrines of the political left. The film presents an emotional tour of the U.S. and its freedom-based ideologies, as well as an unflinching look at the forces threatening to undermine its strengths from within: Greedy capitalists, professional strikebreakers, and the Ku Klux Klan. 88 min. DVD 7283 (Criterion); DVD 4669; also VHS Video/C 7026

Vol. 1, [Disc 1]: Paris a l'aube (1960, 10 min.) -- Blind child (1964, 24 min.) -- Beppie (1965, 38 ,min.) -- Herman Slobbe/ Blind child 2 (1966, 29 min.) -- Big Ben/ Ben Webster in Europe (1967, 31 min.) -- The spirit of the time (1968, 42 min.) -- The cat (1968, 5 min.)
Paris a l'aube: A lyrical ode to Paris filmed at dawn, made in collaboration with James Blue and set to music by Derry Hall.
Blind child: What is a blind child's perspective on reality? Van de Keuken spent two months in a Dutch school for the blind investigating this question.
Beppie: Recounts the adventures of a ten-year-old Amsterdam girl as the filmmaker follows her through her daily life in the city.
Herman Slobbe/ Blind child 2: Filmed two years after Blind Child, this second film on blind children focuses more specifically on one young boy approaching puberty who must struggle to find his own way.
Big Ben/ Ben Webster in Europe: A look at the personality and talent of Ben Webster, the American jazz and blues saxophonist based in Amsterdam.
Spirit of the time: The filmmaker's camera captures the spirit of the sixties in this examination of the hippy movement and protests against the war in Vietnam.
The cat: A series of "cosmic" observations of the filmmakers cat, accompanied by a text on the necessity of innovation in expression and communication in cinema. DVD 6638

Vol. 1, [Disc 2]: Het oog boven de put = The eye above the well = L'oeil au-dessus du puits (1988, 90 min.) -- Lucebert, tijd en afscheid = Lucebert, time and farewell = Lucebert, temps et adieux (1962, 1966, 1994, 51 min.) -- The unanswered question = La question sans reponse (1986, 17 min.) -- On animal locomotion (1994, 15 min.)
Music by Willem Breuker and others.
Eye above the well: Explores India's spiritual and economic condition, moving from the city to the countryside in the region of Kerala, as it focuses on the essence of that civilization. Captured without commentary by a gliding camera are a cacophony of distinctly nonwestern sights and sounds: the bustling city streets, the serene landscapes of the surrounding countryside, a family preparing for dinner, an elderly actor performing his mythological drama, a modest country moneylender traveling from village to village, young girls at their singing lessons.
Lucebert, time and farewell: One of the greatest Dutch poets of the twentieth century, Lucebert was also a major painter who participated in the Cobra movement. This is van der Keuken's acclaimed triptych of three short films on Lucerbert produced in 1962, 1966, and 1994.
Unanswered question: A didactic verse on the mechanic (or rather, organic) function of memory and therefore, also on cinema.
On animal locomotion: An illustration of the human body in motion with music from the Dutch composer Willem Breuker. DVD 6639

Vol. 1, [Disc 3]: Face value (1991, 120 min.) -- Masque = The mask = Het masker (1989, 53 min.).
Music by Willem Breuker and others.
Face value: Rejecting linear narrative storytelling, the director offers an epic of humanity and cultural diversity through a cartography of faces, the reflection of an imaginary Europe, made up of London, Marseilles, Prague, and the Netherlands.
Mask: During the celebrations of the bicentennial of the French Revolution, Johan van der Keuken made a film about the revolutionary ideas of equality, liberty, and fraternity. Rather than focusing on the festivities, he lingers on the crowds in the metro and on the platform. Among them is a homeless member of the poor class who is ignored by his more affluent countrymen. A cutting perspective on the contraditions that permeate French society. DVD 6640

Vol. 2, [Disc 1]: Brass unbound (1993, 106 min.) -- Sarajevo film festival film (1993, 14 min.) -- Time / Work (1999, 11 min.) -- Johan van der Keuken: A documentary (1999, 52 min.)
Brass unbound: A study of how colonized peoples have transformed the music of the colonialists into their own music of celebration and ritual. Filmed in Nepal, Surinam, Minahassa (Indonesia) and Ghana, the film is based on the musicological research of Rob Boonzajer Flaes.
Sarajevo Film Festival Film: In the twentieth month of the siege, Sarajevo organizes a film festival, despite the critical situation admist winter and war. Van der Keuken presents Face Value and Brass Unbound and exploring with his camera, interviews the festival organizer.
Time/Work: This montage of excerpts from van der Keuken's films shows the repetitive motions of various rural, craft, and industrial labors from around the world.
Johan van der Keuken: a documentary: Van der Keuken retraces his steps from Amsterdam to Paris, recalling 40 years of cinema in the process, in this revealing documentary by Thierry Nouel. 183 min. DVD X388

Vol. 2, [Disc 2], Amsterdam Global Village
Photography, Johan van der Keuken ; editing, Barbara Hin, Johan van der Keuken.
A fond depiction of filmmaker Johan van der Keuken's home town of Amsterdam and it's people. The film revolves around Khalid, a moped courier who guides the viewer along as he races around town with his cargo of films and photographs. The camera serenely glides through the city's canals, down its streets and across its squares to encounter old and new Amsterdammers who represent a variety of characters from all corners of the globe. Originally released as a documentary film 1966. DVD X389

Vol. 2, [Disc 3]: Contents: To Sang Fotostudio (1997, 33 min.) -- Living with your eyes / a documentary by Ramon Gieling (1997, 55 min.) -- Amsterdam afterbeat (1996, 16 min.) -- Interview / a documentary by Thierry Nouel (2001, 35 min.).
To Sang Fotostudio: Shop owners of various ethnic backgrounds situated on the Amsterdam street where Chinese photographer Mr. To Sang has his photo studio want to have their portraits taken. Van der Keuken captures their many cultural exchanges on film.
Livining with your eyes: Documentary about the making of To Sang Fotostudio, capturing the filmmaker's creative process. Includes interviews with critics and scholars who comment on van der Keuken's work.
Amersterdam afterbeat: Outtakes from Amsterdam Global Village.
Interview/documentary by Thierry Nouel: In this conversation the filmmaker reveals his ideas, assesses his life of creativity and reflects on his travels and work. DVD X390

Vol. 3, [Disc 1]: The new ice age (1974, 80 min.) -- Four walls (1965, 22 min.) -- Velocity 40-70 (1970, 25 min.) -- The wall (1973, 9 min.) -- Springtime : three portraits (1976, 42 min.).
New ice age: This third part of the North-South triptych looks at the living conditions of Peruvians in the suburbs of Lima and four young workers at an ice cream factory in Northern Holland.
Four walls: As Amsterdam is going through a serious housing crisis the filmmaker reflects on the relationship between home and mental space.
Velocity 40-70: While interviewing a survivor of Auschwitz, van der Keuken reconsiders the war by images of the present and presents a lucid observation of the realities of today. The film is preceded by an interview with the filmmaker.
The wall: One misty October morning a community in Amsterdam comes together to paint an enormous fresco on one of the walls of a norrow street in the neighborhood.
Springtime : three portraits: "Snapshots" taken in Western Europe of people who each in their own way, are living examples of the economic tensions of the mid 1970s. DVD X402

Vol. 3, [Disc 2]: Diary (1972, 78 min.) -- The white castle (1973, 78 min.) -- Bert Schierbeek/ The door (1973, 11 min.) -- Vietnam Opera (1973, 11 min.).
Diary: Filmed in Cameroon, Morocco, and Holland, this first part of a triptych is dedicated to defining the relationship between poor countries (the developing Southern hemisphere) and rich countries (the industrialized North).
White castle: The principal theme of this second part of the North-South triptych is the destruction that marks our existence, and the isolation and despair that are the bitter fruits of "the system." The film weaves itself through three locations: a Spanish island frequented by tourists, a community center in a ghetto of Columbus, Ohio and two factories in the Netherlands.
Bert Schierbeek/ The door: An anthology of the work of Dutch poet Bert Schierbeek, inspired by the disappearance of his wife.
Vietnam opera: In 1973, a group of Vietnamese actors has come to Amsterdam in the framework of a major demonstration in support of the liberation movement. Here, van der Keuken juxtaposes this naive spectacle with images of overfed Dutchmen filmed in a market street in Amsterdam. DVD X403

Vol. 3, [Disc 3]: Paris a l'aube (1960, 10 min.) -- Blind child (1964, 24 min.) -- Beppie (1965, 38 ,min.) -- Herman Slobbe/ Blind child 2 (1966, 29 min.) -- Big Ben/ Ben Webster in Europe (1967, 31 min.) -- The spirit of the time (1968, 42 min.) -- The cat (1968, 5 min.)
Paris a l'aube: A lyrical ode to Paris filmed at dawn, made in collaboration with James Blue and set to music by Derry Hall.
Blind child: What is a blind child's perspective on reality? Van de Keuken spent two months in a Dutch school for the blind investigating this question.
Beppie: Recounts the adventures of a ten-year-old Amsterdam girl as the filmmaker follows her through her daily life in the city.
Herman Slobbe/ Blind child 2: Filmed two years after Blind Child, this second film on blind children focuses more specifically on one young boy approaching puberty who must struggle to find his own way.
Big Ben/ Ben Webster in Europe: A look at the personality and talent of Ben Webster, the American jazz and blues saxophonist based in Amsterdam.
Spirit of the time: The filmmaker's camera captures the spirit of the sixties in this examination of the hippy movement and protests against the war in Vietnam.
The cat: A series of "cosmic" observations of the filmmakers cat, accompanied by a text on the necessity of innovation in expression and communication in cinema. DVD X404

Credits: original outline, Pare Lorentz; scenario, Henwar Rodakiewicz; commentary, Lewis Mumford; music, Aaron Copland; film editor, Theodore Lawrence.
Dramatizes the transformation of the United States from a country of small towns to a highly urbanized and industrialized society. Originally shown at the 1939 World's Fair, this classic documentary film comments on four types of cities: the New England town, the unplanned industrial community, a crowded metropolis and the decentralized community. Contents: The City (1939, 43 min.) -- Which playground for your child : greenbelt or gutter?" : a documentary from the Greenbelt Museum featuring interviews with three Greenbelt "pioneers" (2000, ca. 15 min.) -- George Stoney in conversation with Joseph Horowitz : a legendary documentary film-maker revisits The City (2007, 29 min.)Produced by American Institute of Planning through Civic Films, Inc. ; produced by American Documentary Films, Inc. ; directed and photographed by Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke. 44 min. DVD X2827; vhs Video/C 4969

Presented by the Farm Security Administration with the cooperation of the Public Works Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps and the Army Engineers. Recorded at General Services Studios.

A documentary story of the Mississippi River. Traces the history of the Mississippi and its tributaries; shows that the destruction of forests had led to erosion and the loss of soil, floods and the loss of lives and property. Emphasizes the need for conservation and rehabilitation. 32 min. DVD 7297; DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C 5060

Entuziazm: Vertov's first sound film. This lyrical sound and musical documentary celebrates the enthusiasm with which the peasants and miners of the Don River basin in Russia fulfilled their first five-year plan quotas following the October Revolution. The film is noted for its innovative use of sound in synchronization as well as in counterpoint, and for its interesting cinematic effects, such as multiple superimpositions. 67 min. DVD 9188; vhs Video/C 999:2063

Kino Eye (Kinoglaz)(1929)

A collection of excerpts from newsreels and ocumentary films of Soviet life in the early 1920s made by Vertov and his "Kino-Eye" group. Highlighted are the activities of Soviet children and youth of the Young Pioneers and Young Leninists interwoven with cinematic experiments as when Vertov charts the evolution of hamburger and bread by following its trail back to the farms and wheat fields from whence it came. An honest documentary of a society fresh from revolution, buoyed by idealism. "The final reel no longer exists but has been approximated through the use of carefully selected outtake footage. DVD 207; also vhs Video/C 999:1141

Kino-Pravda footage includes: Work on the reconstruction of the Moscow trolley system, Line No. 13 -- Tanks on the labor front (Leveling the Khodinka Airport) -- At the trial of the Social-Revolutionaries -- Organizing the peasants to join the communes -- Town of Gelenzhik (Children's sanitarium; Save the starving children!) -- For inquiries regarding traveling film-shows. Kino-Pravda: Silent film. Excerpts from the second of the newsreel journal series which originally consisted of 23 issues produced from 1922-1925. Consists of a record of Soviet life edited into a unique genre of mixed documentary, animation and reviews and provides a record of the Revolution's social achievements. 14 min.

Entuziazm: Vertov's first sound film. This lyrical sound and musical documentary celebrates the enthusiasm with which the peasants and miners of the Don River basin in Russia fulfilled their first five-year plan quotas following the October Revolution. The film is noted for its innovative use of sound in synchronization as well as in counterpoint, and for its interesting cinematic effects, such as multiple superimpositions. 14 min. Video/C 999:2063

Directed by Dziga Vertov. Photographer, Mikhail Kaufman. An experimental film without any plot, showing, through a succession of street and interior scenes, all the tricks of which the instrument is capable creating a boldly detailed portrait of the Moscow of the l920s. Uses numerous cinematic techniques such as split screens, multiple superimpositions and variable speeds to study the relation between cinema and reality.

DVD 88 Kino. Original music composed and performed by the Alloy Orchestra following the instructions written by Dziga Vertov. 68 min. Special features: Audio essay by Yuri Tsivian.

DVD 2992 Kino. Music by Michael Nyman and his band. 68 min.

Forward, Soviet! (Shagai, Sovet!) (1926)

Commissioned by the Moscow Soviet as a documentary and information film for the citizens of Moscow prior to municipal elections, film is a tableau of Soviet life and achievements in the period of reconstruction following the Civil War of 1917-1921. Silent film with Russian intertitles. 72 min. Video/C 3770

Lenin as revealed through the eyes of the Russian people, represented by three songs. The first, "My face was in a dark prison," concerns the life of a young Muslim woman. "We loved him" deals with Lenin's life and death. The third song, "In a big city of stone," shows the accomplishments of his rule. 59 min. DVD 207

"The second of Vigo's four films is about 10 minutes long. The subject, allegedly, is a French national swimming champion, Jean Taris. First we see him swimming normally. Then we see a hint that this isn't a documentary short: Taris dives into the water, Vigo runs the film backwards, and Taris is spit back out. This happens 3 times. Thus the crux of the film: inventive (for the time) technique, while overuse of it occurs. Fun stuff, though: interesting shots of Taris doing the backstroke. Finally, we see him goofing around underwater; by this point, the movie achieves a genuine state of grace. Can be found on No. 10 of the New York Film Annex's video series of experimental and abstract films." [Internet Movie Database] DVD X6356; DVD 3482 (non-US format DVD)

This film-essay, done in a pseudo-documentary style is a meditation on illusionism, the role of the artist being that of a charlatan-magician. Portraits of art forger Elmyr de Hory (using footage from Francois Reichenbach's film) and Clifford Irving (forger of Howard Hughes' autobiography) intermingle with Welle's own connection with "fakes" -- Picasso paintings and his famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Above all, Welles delights in the artifice of the cinema -- the power of editing to "fake," cinematic space. 1973. 98 min. DVD 3777; vhs Video/C MM310

It's All True

Welles' ambitious film project in Brazil for the United States' anti-Nazi "Good Neighbor Policy" was shelved by RKO. This documentary features the story of the film's making and unmaking and includes portions of "Story of Samba (Carnaval)", "My friend Bonito" and all of "Four men on a raft" which was the only part of the project completed. The story of Samba (Carnival) / writer, Robert Meltzer; cinematographer, Harry J. Wild -- My friend Bonito / director, Norman Foster; producer, Orson Welles; story, Robert Flaherty; cinematographer, Floyd Crosby -- Four men on a raft / director, Orson Welles; cinematographer, George Fanto; still photography, Chico Abuquerque. Shot 1942; released 1993. 86 min. DVD 9064; vhs Video/C 5180

A morale-boosting look at the greatness of Britain and the efforts of all classes to preserve her power and integrity. 7 min. DVD X1229

Britain Can Take It (aka London Can Take It(1940)

American journalist Quentin Reynolds presented this despatch from London that gave Roosevelt the kind of material he needed to swing U.S. popular opinion behind Britain in the war. Britain at bay: Nazi Germany has swallowed Czechoslovakia, invaded Poland and Norway, overrun Holland and Belgium. The French government had given in. Britain was alone, at bay... Men of the lightship: Reconstruction of events surrounding the Nazi bombing of the East Dudgeon lightship and the fate of those who manned it. Christmas under fire: Quentin Reynolds second film despatch from London to America shows Christmas 1940, the year of the blitz. 9 min. DVD 6219; also on DVD 1279; vhs Video/C 5025

Reynolds, Quentin James. Britain can take it; based on the film. New York, E.P. Dutton and company, inc., c1941. (MAIN: D760.8.L7 R48)

Christmas Under Fire(1941)

Director: Harry Watt. 10 min. Quentin Reynolds second film despatch from London to America shows Christmas 1940, the year of the blitz. DVD 6219

Fires Were Started. (1943)

Co-directed with Harry Watt. Uses reenactment techniques to show the Auxiliary Fire Service in Action during the winter and spring of 1940/41, when the Blitz of London was at its height. 72 min. DVD 1279; also on VHS 5025

Stansky, Peter. London's burning : life, death and art in the Second World War / Peter Stansky and William Abrahams. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1994.
(Main Stack NX650.W3.S73 1994)

The First Days

Producer: Alberto Cavalcanti; directors: Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, Pat Jackson. Shows many actual and some reconstructed scenes of air raid precautions, military training and evacuations during the first days of the war. 23 min. DVD 6218

Night Mail(1936)

Produced by John Grierson, directed by Basil Wright and Harry Watt; verse by W.H. Auden; music, Benjamin Britten. Night mail is the most celebrated documentary of the GPO Film Unit. Showing the Postal Special's nightly run from London to Scotland, it has all the qualities that British documentary stands for from its realism through its perfect structure to the inspirational character appeal. Post haste is a film celebrating 150 years history of the Travelling Post Office which revolutionised the sorting and delivery of mail Mail rail is a programme made to celebrate 60 years of the unique Royal Mail Underground Railway situated some 22 metres below London's busy streets. At its peak, the railway was responsible for carrying over one third of London's mail. DVD 6240; also on Video/C 5024 and Video/C 999:524 24 min. DVD 6240; Video/C 5024; Video/C 999:524

Director, Harry Watt; producer, Alberto Cavalcanti. Reenacts the fate of a storm-tossed ship in distress and features the activities of the GPO and its radio stations along the coast. DVD 6062; vhs Video/C 5023

The Saving of Bill Blewitt(1937)

Producer, Alberto Cavalcanti; director, Harry Watt. An early fiction film made in a documentary style, about two fishermen whose boat is wrecked but who manage to save up enough to buy another. 25 min. DVD 6062 (PAL)

Squadron 992 (1939)

A compelling drama-documentary about the training of a balloon squadron and its first assignment to the Forth Bridge, which had just been unsuccessfully raided. DVD 6218

Released by the British Ministry of Information. Written and Driected by Harry Watt. This exceptional British film was given special recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 1941 Academy Awards presentations. In documentary realism, it shows a British bomber attack deep into Germany and reflects the concerns and support for that attack. This film is the true story of themen and women who planned and executed the nightly bombing raids on Germany during World War II. 39 min. DVD 5802; vhs Video/C 5026

Filmed at Fort Knox in 1970, this documentary follows a company of draftees and enlisted men through the Army basic training program, showing the transition from civilians to soldiers. c1971. 90 min. DVD X7232; Video/C MM509

Belfast, Maine (1996)

Frederick Wisemen, one of the giants of American documentary filmmaking, spent a month in the fall of 1996 shooting footage of life in a small fishing-and-factory New England town. The city of Belfast, Maine has suffered an economic downturn in recent years, and the town is gearing up for a new business (a credit card collection facility) that it hopes will give the local economy a boost. In the meantime, the people of Belfast go on with their lives trapping lobsters, canning fish, teaching school, helping the poor and indigent, staging local plays and trying to make the most of their evenings and weekends. 100. c1999. 248 min. DVD X7229; Video/C MM508

Boxing Gym (2010)

The subject of this film is an Austin, Texas institution, Lord's Gym, which was founded over twenty years ago by Richard Lord, a former professional boxer. A wide variety of people of all ages, ethnicities and social classes train at the gym: men, women, children, doctors, lawyers, judges, business men and women, immigrants, professional boxers and people who want to become professional boxers alongside amateurs who love the sport and teenagers who are trying to develop strength and assertiveness. The gym is an example of the American "melting pot" where people meet, talk, and train. 91 min. DVD X7230

La Comedie Française, ou, L'amour Joue (2001)

An unnarrated documentary on the 300-year-old Paris comedy company La Comedie Francaise. Wiseman presents every facet of the production, from the construction of the set to the cafeteria, to a birthday party for a retired actress who has reached 100. c1996. 223 min. DVD X7242; Video/C MM485

Domestic Violence (2001)

An extensive documentary on domestic violence filmed in Tampa, Florida. The film shows the police responding to domestic violence calls and the work of The Spring, the principal shelter in Tampa for women and children. Sequences with the police include police response, intervention and attempted resolution. Sequences at the shelter include intake interviews, individual counseling sessions, anger management training, group therapy, staff meetings and conversations among clients and between clients and staff, therapy sessions for children where domestic violence is discussed and counseling for parents and children organized around children's issues and experiences with domestic violence. 196 min. DVD 8739; vhs Video/C 8984

Domestic violence 2 focuses primarily on the legal issues. It takes place in the Arraignment, Misdemeanor, and Injunction Courts in Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida. The courts deal with such issues as bail, bonds, release pending trial, the time and place of parental visits, restraining orders, support payments and the court's decision about fault and punishment. Judges and lawyers ask questions which elicit the stories of couples' relationships and the specific form of violence between them. A film by Frederick Wiseman. 2002. 160 min. DVD X7228; Video/C MM1073

A documentary study of life in a typical urban high school, Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Deals with the ideology and values of a large urban high school population as seen through encounters between students, teachers, and parents in guidance sessions, college counseling, faculty meetings, corridor patrol, gymnasium and classroom activities. 75 min. DVD 8741; vhs Video/C 3753

High School II (1994)

A extensive documentary about Central Park East Secondary School, a successful alternative high school in New York's Spanish Harlem. Focuses on interactions between the students, teachers, staff and parents who are involved in the school and on the opportunitiesgiven to learn outside of traditional classroom settings. Ninety-five percent of the school's graduates go on to four-year colleges. 200 min. DVD X7243; Video/C 7065

Shows the daily activity of the Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York City, with emphasis on the emergency ward and outpatient clinics. Reveals social problems of the city and illustrates how medical expertise, availability of resources, organizational considerations, and the nature of communication among the staff and patients affect the delivery of appropriate health care. 86 min. DVD X7233; Video/C 4133

Juvenile Court (1973)

A documentary showing day-to-day activities in the large urban juvenile court system of Memphis. Scenes include conferences among parents, social workers, lawyers, and young offenders, interviews with psychologists, and meetings in the judge's chambers. 144 min. DVD X7231; Video/C MM1072

Law and Order(1969)

An award winning documentary on the routine activities of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department. Filmed in the highest crime district of the city, the film reveals the role of the police in a large urban center, the nature of contacts with the community and the diversity and complexity of the police role in American society. In showing police confronting problems such as a domestic dispute, arrests of a car thief and a prostitute, a clothing store holdup, and medical emergencies, the film presents an unflinching look at the intersection of criminal behavior and police work. 1969. 81 min. DVD X7238; Video/C 9301

Meat (1976)

A documentary concerning the routine activities at a large meat packing plant and slaughterhouse. Traces the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer products by depicting the processing and transportation of meat products by a highly automated packing plant, illustrating important points and problems in the area of production, transportation, logistics, equipment design, time-motion study, and labor management. 113 min. DVD X7235; Video/C 6880

Missle (1976)

A film about the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California which trains Air Force officers who, if ordered, will launch the nuclear firepower of the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Sequences include discussion of the moral and military issues of nuclear war; the arming, targeting and launching of the missile; codes; communications; protection against terrorist attack; emergency procedures; staff meetings; tutorial sessions. The film follows the trainees through the various stages of the 14-week training through graduation and assignment to staff Launch Control Centers. 115 min. Video/C MM1075

An extensive documentary showing men and women models at work on TV commercials, fashion shows, print advertising, posing for magazine covers and ads for a variety of products: designer's collections, fur coats, sports clothes and automobiles. The models are seen at work with photographers whose techniques illustrate different styles of fashion and product photography. Also, the business aspect of running an agency is shown: interviewing prospective models, career counseling, arranging portfolios, talking with clients and planning trips. The film presents a view of the intersections of fashion, business, advertising, photography, television and fantasy. 129 min. Video/C MM1076

Multi-handicapped(1986)

An extensive documentary showing the education and day to day activities of blind and multi-handicapped and sensory impaired students and their teachers, parents and counselors at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults. The film presents situations involving personal hygiene, mobility training, concepts of time and money, self help and independent living, dormitory life, recreation, sports, vocational training and psychological counseling. 1986. 120 min. DVD X7240; Video/C MM1074

Near Death (1989)

An extensive 6 hour documentary filmed at the Intensive Care Unit of Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, examining how people and medical personnel face death. Presents the complex interrelationships between patients, families, doctors, nurses, hospital staff and religious advisors as they confront the personal, ethical, medical, psychological, religious and legal issues involved in making decisions about whether or not to give life-sustaining treatment to dying patients. 1989. 289 min. DVD X7239; Video/C 7066

Primate (1974)

Shows some of the routine events at a primate research center. Examines the scientific programs designed to study primate physical and mental development, primate manual and language skills, and primate sexual and aggressive behavior. 113 min. DVD X7241; Video/C 7064

Public Housing (1997)

Shows the daily life at the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago, the most densely populated public housing area in the United States. The filmmaker looks at the families, the elderly, afterschool programs, tenants council, the police, training programs, drugs, and various government agencies as they intersect with residents. 195 min. DVD X7237; Video/C 6447

The Store (1983)

This documentary studies the operation and mangement of the main department store of Neiman-Marcus headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The director observes salespeople, customers, and store executives, and shows the inner workings of the store. c1983. 119 min. DVD X7234; Video/C MM510

Titicut Follies (1967)

Filmed at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater, this documentary shows harsh scenes of the life and treatment of the criminally insane inmates. 84 min. DVD 8740; vhs Video/C 1276

Welfare (1975)

Shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the diverse problems that constitute welfare : housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. Presents the struggle of both welfare workers and clients to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life. 167 min. DVD X4592; Video/C 4134 v. 1-2

"In 1937 [Wright] formed the independent documentary unit Realist Films. The first year's crop included Wright's Children at School (1937), a three-reel report on state-supplied education in Britain, its facts and analysis enlivened by the director's sensitive eye and the camerawork of A. E. Jeakins, henceforth a regular collaborator." [ScreenOnline] 23 min. DVD X1229

Produced by John Grierson, directed by Basil Wright. The Song of Ceylon is a documentary showing traditional culture and primitive economy of the Ceylonese contrasted with the influence of modern commerce. DVD X365; Video/C 5022; Video/C 9417; Video/C 999:524

Guynn, William. "The Art of National Projection: Basil Wright's Song of Ceylon." In: Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video / edited by Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski. pp: 83-98. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, c1998. Contemporary film and television series. (Main Stack PN1995.9.D6.D58 1998; Moffitt PN1995.9.D6.D58 1998)

Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. Contents: Maria: Made in memory of Russian peasant Maria Semionovna Voinova, a woman who grew flax, and after her death, her secrets and methods of working the fields were lost. 1988, 40 min.
The Last Day of a Rainy Summer: Filmed on a kolkhoz, a collective farm. After several years of low crop yields, the kolkhoz was in poor condition.
1978, ca. 26 min. DVD X2633